Moments that Changed Us
by CandC1988
Summary: Could something as simple as tripping on a sidewalk change everything? Well, this is what this story is about.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Recess or any of its characters.

Author's Note: Okay, so pretty much every story I write is a Recess fic, but its okay, because I love Recess and I love writing about it. So, here's my fourth Recess chapter story. And since the other story that I'm starting doesn't really deal with the Recess gang this one does. And its set up a little different than most stories, but I'll explain that better in the second chapter that actually starts the weird setting up.

Prologue

"One moment can change everything," my grandpa used to tell me in an old, shaky voice as he rocked back in forth in his rocking chair. Sounds like something out of a TV show or film, doesn't it? I never believed him though. Because, honestly, how could one moment change everything? So many moments happened in one day that it seemed impossible for it to happen.

I mean, could something as simple as tripping on the sidewalk change the entire course of destiny? No, I didn't believe it, but my grandpa sure did. He used to tell me stories about how he just knew that one moment changed the entire course of his life. Such as, when he was bending over to pick up his pen he had dropped, he looked up and saw my grandma for the first time walking by in the opposite direction. If he hadn't have dropped his pen, he would have been looking straightforward and never seen the girl. Or, how he took a different route home from school one day on a whim, and found the career that he was going to engage in the rest of his life when he saw some lawyers leaving their offices, with fancy suits and such. He would become a great lawyer many years later, unbeknownst to the men who inspired him as they walked out of their office to head home.

Even with all these personal accounts, I still believed by grandpa was off his rocker, I mean, one moment changing everything? One moment could make me famous, or make me homeless? One moment could make me find love, or be lonely forever? One moment could make me live a happy life, or make me miserable for the rest of it? Still seemed a little farfetched to me.

My grade school friends loved to go with me to visit my grandpa. He would tell them the exact same thing he told me. One of my friends thought it was the wisest thing she had ever heard, while another just scoffed at it, in a respectful way though because she loved my grandpa. The others looked at him skeptically, but never said anything for or against it.

The day we buried my grandpa was one I will never forget. As I sat there silently at the funeral, a few tears streaming down my face, I asked, in my head, my dead grandpa what one moment could have possibly been the reason for his death? His reason would have been something obscure and meaningless, like because he forgot to turn the water faucet off upstairs, this made him forget to take his pill that led to his heart attack. I assumed that it was something as simple as, he did forgot to take his pill. But, I guess I would never know. I would never get to have the conversation with him again about one moment changing everything.

But, after his death, I started to look back on my life and those around me. Kind of weird for an eighteen year old senior in high school to do, I know. But, for some reason, I couldn't get out of my head that one phrase my grandpa always told me. Besides this phrase, he wasn't particularly philosophical, in fact he was very comedic. He lived to tell jokes and make people laugh. He could have an entire court room rolling on the ground laughing when it got too intense. Judges loved him because he took a totally different approach to being a lawyer, not an unprofessional stand point, just a different one.

So, I assumed that if that was the only piece of real advice he gave me, maybe there was something to it. I started to trace back my life's steps to see if any of them popped out of me as something that could be considered significant.

As soon as I started to hit rewind on the button of my life, I realized that my grandpa was right. One moment could change everything in a person's entire life. Sounds weird, right? But, I definitely believe it now. One pen dropped really could lead you the woman you were going to marry and love for the rest of your life, one different route home really could show you what your profession would be and make you very successful. Forgetting to turn off the upstair's faucet and having to run back up stairs and forgetting to take your pill in the process can lead to a heart attack.

And something as simple as tripping on a sidewalk could change the entire course of your life, but, as I also discovered, not only yours, but everybody who is around you.


	2. Chapter One

Disclaimer: I do not own Recess or any of its characters.

Author's Note: Okay, so here's where this story seems to get a little weird. I'm going to have two different scenarios going on in it. The first scenario will be in regular print, and the other in italics. I may have to explain this more after I finish the chapter.

Chapter One

April 8th, Fourth Grade

"And then he gave me detention, for no reason," TJ Detweiler finished his story as he and his friends continued to walk down the sidewalk away from the school. His friends seemed to be paying very little, if any attention at all.

TJ's best friend, Vince LaSalle, was bouncing a basketball on the ground, occasionally spinning around as if practicing some awesome basketball moves. He also appeared to be talking to himself, murmuring something about basketball statistics. Gretchen Grundler, the school genius, was talking to her computer, Galileo, about some math equation in their math assignment that she had felt was worded wrong and would lead to the wrong answer for most of the kids in the class. Gus Griswald was talking to his best friend, Mikey Blumberg, the school poet, about some poem that their teacher had read to them, and Mikey was trying to explain the artist's meaning in writing the poem to him. The last of their group, Gretchen's best friend, Ashley Spinelli, was walking a little ahead of the rest of the group, practicing some wrestling holds that she had seen last night on the television. TJ didn't really mind that his friends weren't listening to him however, because he knew that he could recap the story for them later.

"Gretchen," Galileo spoke to her, "there is a sidewalk that is protruding upwards in about two feet and I am afraid that young Vince will trip over it and hurt himself if not taking the proper precautions to safely store his basketball away at that time."

"Noted," Gretchen replied, and then spoke up to Vince, "Vince, you might want to be careful or you will trip over the sidewalk coming up."

"Whatever," Vince rolled his eyes at his friend, turning around to look at her as talked, "I'm not going to trip over any sidewalk."

As he made his way to turn around, he tripped over the exact spot that Galileo had mentioned earlier and fell on his face, landing in some gravel. The others quickly rushed to him to help him up.

"Oh whoa," Spinelli muttered as she looked at her friend's face. TJ bit his lip, while Gretchen, Mikey, and Gus all cringed away from the sight.

"What's wrong?" Vince asked, alarmed.

"Let's just get you home," TJ tried to sooth him, "I'm sure your mom can make you all better."

"What's wrong with me?" Vince's voice rose as his friends silently walked beside him towards his house.

"Nothing," Gretchen tried to assure him, not very convincingly. Nothing else was said on the walk home, but the friends kept glancing at each other, wondering how Vince was going to react.

"Honey?" his mom called from the kitchen when she heard them walk through the door, "I thought you and your friends were going to the park"

When she stepped out of the kitchen and saw her son she let out a gasp, "oh honey, what happened?"

"He tripped on the sidewalk," Gus quietly said as his mom wrapped him up in her arms and began to lead him towards the kitchen.

"Let's get you cleaned up," his mom said, but on their way to the kitchen they passed the hallway mirror and Vince LaSalle saw his reflection. And he felt sick at the sight.

00000000

__

April 8th, Fourth Grade

"And then he gave me detention, for no reason," TJ Detweiler finished his story as he and his friends continued to walk down the sidewalk away from the school. His friends seemed to be paying very little, if any attention at all.

TJ's best friend, Vince LaSalle, was bouncing a basketball on the ground, occasionally spinning around as if practicing some awesome basketball moves. He also appeared to be talking to himself, murmuring something about basketball statistics. Gretchen Grundler, the school genius, was talking to her computer, Galileo, about some math equation in their math assignment that she had felt was worded wrong and would lead to the wrong answer for most of the kids in the class. Gus Griswald was talking to his best friend, Mikey Blumberg, the school poet, about some poem that their teacher had read to them, and Mikey was trying to explain the artist's meaning in writing the poem to him. The last of their group, Gretchen's best friend, Ashley Spinelli, was walking a little ahead of the rest of the group, practicing some wrestling holds that she had seen last night on the television. TJ didn't really mind that his friends weren't listening to him however, because he knew that he could recap the story for them later.

"Gretchen," Galileo spoke to her, "there is a sidewalk that is protruding upwards in about two feet and I am afraid that young Vince will trip over it and hurt himself if not taking the proper precautions to safely store his basketball away at that time."

"Noted," Gretchen replied, and then spoke up to Vince, "Vince, you might want to be careful or you will trip over the sidewalk coming up."

"Whatever," Vince rolled his eyes at his friend, turning around to look at her as talked, "I'm not going to trip over any sidewalk."

Vince then turned around and managed to jump over the protruding sidewalk at the last moment, not losing any of his characteristic stride, he then turned to TJ.

"TJ, what's up with girls and being all worried?" he rolled his eyes.

"Excuse me?" Spinelli inquired, quirking her eyebrow at him as she turned around, "what did you say about us girls?"

"Nobody ever accused you of being a girl Spinelli," Vince smiled at her, to let her know he was kidding, and then turned to everybody else, "so, are we playing basketball at the park, or what?"

"Or what," Gus muttered, "we know that you'll kill the rest of us."

"I'll try and take it easy on the rest of you," he assured him. But, as they made their way to the park, Vince reasoned inside his head that by taking it easy on the rest of them that he could surely make about twenty goals. Considering that he usually was the only scorer in their games, this would definitely qualify as taking it easy on the rest of them.

999999

Vince walked down the hallway amidst laughter the next day. He knew his face looked awful, his mom had done all she could to cover it up, but one side of his face had been completely scratched up.

"Hey, what's up?" TJ asked as he caught up with Vince before they reached the classroom door.

"I don't think I've ever been laughed at this much," Vince muttered to his friend, "or this pitied."

"Yeah," TJ looked around at all the students, who were laughing at Vince, or pitying him, "it's a bit odd. Don't worry, you'll show them when you play basketball today at recess."

"Dude," Vince said as they walked out of the classroom, "do you really think I'm going to walk outside with my face looking like this? It would give Lawson way too much teasing information. I'll just stay in and study for our math test later this week."

"You do realize that you sound totally lame, right?" Spinelli asked him as she sat down in her usual seat and turned to the two of them, catching what Vince had said as she walked in behind them.

"You would be lame to if your face looked like this," Vince grumbled to her, turning around and facing forward.

"Okay then," Spinelli muttered, facing forward also. TJ looked wearily between the two friends, before also facing forward.

99999

Vince walked down the hallway with his usual air of confidence about him, smiling at a student here and there. Before he got to the door of the class however, a fifth grade boy stepped in front of him.

"Hey LaSalle," Lawson greeted the boy with a sneer. Vince just gave him a calm smile.

"Hey Lawson," Vince coolly said back, moving to go around Lawson and into the classroom.

"Are we still on for basketball today?" Lawson questioned him, "or are you chicken?"

Vince LaSalle could not help but be amused by Lawson's obvious attempt to egg him on. Vince knew he was better than Lawson at basketball, and that his team would win. It would just take a serious game of it to convince Lawson that it was the truth.

"Sure are," Vince grinned, before walking in the room, to discover that most of the rest of the class was assembled inside. He sat down in his usual spot and turned to the gang.

"Ready for basketball today?" he asked, addressing Gus, Mikey, TJ, and Spinelli. Gretchen looked at the five of them, but didn't say anything. They all responded with their various versions of yes.

"Are you going to watch?" Gus questioned as he noticed the silence coming from Gretchen's direction.

"No," Gretchen whispered, "I think I will stay in today and catch up on math problems to be better prepared for the math test on Friday."

"Suit yourself," Vince shrugged, as the gang turned around, Spinelli looked at her friend with a frown on her face.

999999

"Hey Vince," the excited boy's voice echoed all around the classroom as TJ bound through the door, followed shortly by an excited Spinelli,

"You should have seen TJ play today," Spinelli praised the boy, "it was great! He made the winning shot!"

"Way to go TJ," Vince half-heartedly said. Spinelli did not seem to notice his lack of enthusiasm and continued to talk about it with the rest of the gang as they settled in their seats.

TJ tried to get Vince's attention to tell him that it was all chance, but the boy had already reburied his head in his books.

9999999

_"Vince! Vince! Vince!" the students cheered on Vince as he led the winning team back into the classroom to find a quiet Gretchen Grundler studying for her math test._

_"Hey Gretch," Gus quietly greeted her as he sat down, "are you okay?"_

_"I'm fine," she snapped, turning back to her book._

999999

"I am very surprised by the performance of a few students in this class," Ms. Grotkey said as she handed back the math tests that they had just taken that morning. When the recess bell rang a few seconds later and Vince stayed behind, his face still scarred up, but what kept him behind was the grade on his math test.

"A 100?" Vince asked the teacher, shock written all over his face, "are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure," she shook her head, "all that extra studying must have paid off."

9999

_Vince LaSalle didn't leave his seat as the recess bell rang. He looked up at the teacher with disbelief._

_"How could I get an F?" Vince demanded to know._

_Ms. Grotkey looked at him kindly before answering, "Maybe you spend too much time playing basketball, and not enough studying._

_Author's Note: Okay, so the words in italics are what happened when Vince didn't trip, and the words that are regular are for when he trips. I hope its not too confusing. They are the same timeline, just different realities._


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

September 2nd, 5th Grade

"Gretchen!" Spinelli called down the hallway at her best friend, who was walking towards their fifth grade classroom on the first day. Gretchen turned around and waved at her best friend, waiting for her to catch up.

"Hey Spinelli," Gretchen smiled at her, "I feel as if we have been very disconnected this summer."

"Yeah, me too," Spinelli shrugged, "you were studying the whole summer."

"Vince has proved to be a worthy opponent in our studies, and I wanted to make sure I was well ahead of the curve," Gretchen shrugged.

"Hello ladies," Vince greeted as he walked by them into the classroom, already holding several books in his hands. His scars from tripping over the sidewalk seemed to never have fully healed, he still had one huge scar across one side of his face.

"Hey Vince," the girls said in unison, and then noticing Mikey and Gus already in the class, shouted greetings to them. A split second later, TJ joined the two girls at the door.

"Fifth grade, crazy huh?" TJ smiled as he also slipped past the girls, who decided to follow him in, "new king, new class, new teacher."

"But same old Ashley's," Spinelli rolled her eyes as the four Ashley's primly sat down in their seats. As TJ, Gus, and Mikey all groaned in response, Vince seemed to be immersed in a new book, and Gretchen spoke up.

"Maybe they are not as bad as we perceive them to be," Gretchen looked hopeful. The others stare of disbelief quickly made the girl quiet down.

"Right," Spinelli shook her head, taking a seat next to TJ, "so, who's in for basketball this afternoon?"

"Well, of course our new star player is," Gus smiled at TJ, the boy who had finished the last couple months of school with more points than anybody else, "and I'm in."

"Me too," Mikey smiled, "watching TJ on the court is like watching poetry move."

TJ smiled at his friends before turning to Vince, "are you going to play?"

"I don't think so Teej," Vince attempted a smile, "I have not played in a few months, I doubt I possess any of my old skills."

"Gretch?" Spinelli inquired, breaking the awkward silence.

"Yup, I'm in," Gretchen smiled.

"Do you think Lawson's up for a nice lose today?" TJ remarked flippantly as the rest of the class began to file in.

"Always is," Mikey replied, facing forward as they began to wonder when their teacher was going to show up.

"Do you think something happened?" Gus asked, a worried look on his face, "what is taking our teacher so long?"

"Probably saw you six and decided to turn tail and run away," Ashley A. haughtily spoke up from her seat. Spinelli shot her a warning look from her seat.

"Is little Spinelli insulted?" Ashley A. taunted, "little Ashley Spinelli."

At the sound of her first name, Spinelli jumped out of her seat, obviously to make an attack at Ashley, but TJ grabbed her arm, trying to stop her, but with a wrench of her arm she got away and turned to Ashley A., punching her in the face.

"Ashley Spinelli!" a voice from behind them spoke up, they all looked to find their teacher staring in horror between the two girls, "office, now."

Spinelli walked defiantly towards the office, not even looking back at Ashley A. as she left.

9999

_September 2nd, 5th Grade_

"_Gretchen!" Spinelli called down the hallway at her best friend, who was walking towards their fifth grade classroom on the first day. The girl seemed not to have heard Spinelli call her name because a second later she turned and entered the classroom. Spinelli stood in the middle of the hallway unmoving for a few seconds before two sets of feet stopped right next to her._

"_Spinelli, what are you doing in the hallway?" TJ asked as Spinelli, Vince, and himself began to walk again towards the classroom._

"_Gretchen just ignored me when I called her name," Spinelli shook her head._

"_I'm sure it was nothing," Vince assured her, stopping to give a high five to a friend close to them, "she probably just didn't hear you."_

"_You're right Vince," Spinelli smiled at him, "must be overreacting."_

_The three entered the classroom, taking seats next to the rest of the gang, who was already situated in their seats._

"_Fifth grade, crazy, huh?" TJ smiled, "new king, new class, new teacher."_

"_Same old Ashley's," Spinelli rolled her eyes as the four Ashley's primly sat down in their seats. TJ, Gus, and Mikey all groaned in response. Gretchen did not look up from the book that she seemed to find so interesting and Vince just shrugged his shoulders._

"_I tried to call you all summer Gretch," Spinelli said to her best friend, "where were you?"_

"_Doing some reading," Gretchen shortly replied, "I wanted to catch up on my Russian poets before the summer was up."_

"_Who's up for a basketball game today?" Mikey asked the group._

"_Vince is," all four of the others replied, just as Vince was saying, "I am."_

"_And me."_

"_And me."_

"_And me."_

_All responded except for Gretchen, Vince then turned to Gretchen and said, "you can come and watch. We could even sub you in."_

"_While that seems like a gracious offer," Gretchen attempted a smile, "I would like to do some of the math problems from this weeks lessons."_

"_Do you think something happened?" Gus asked, a worried look on his face as the six began to face forward, not wanting to say anything else about the game for fear of upsetting Gretchen even more than she already seemed to be, "what is taking our teacher so long?"_

"_Probably saw you six and decided to turn tail and run away," Ashley A. haughtily spoke up from her seat. Spinelli shot her a warning look from her seat._

"_Is little Spinelli insulted?" Ashley A. taunted, "little Ashley Spinelli."_

_At the sound of her first name, Spinelli jumped out of her seat, obviously to make an attack at Ashley. However, TJ and Vince reacted first and each grabbed one of her arms and pulled her back down in her seat. And it seemed to be just in time because a few seconds later the teacher walked through the door, smiling to the class._

9999

"Two weeks of no recess," Spinelli complained as she joined her friends at the lunch table, "what happened to the Ashley demon?"

"Got sent home, they think you broke her nose," Gretchen shook her head at her friend.

"What? She called me Ashley," Spinelli shuddered, "two weeks of no recess was worth that punch."

"But now we need a fifth in basketball," TJ complained, "I can't show off my awesome skills while I'm one person short of a full team."

Vince looked about ready to speak up before TJ stopped a passing boy, "hey Phil, you want to play fifth in basketball today?"

As Phil nodded, Vince looked back down at his book, reprimanding himself for even thinking about speaking up to play fifth in basketball. He knew that he wasn't that person anymore.

Gretchen noticed the look on Vince's face and sympathized with him, in fact, she had felt his pain in many cases. Many times she had been left in the cold when it came to sports. She knew the only reason she had moved up to a starter on the team was Vince's lack of interest in the last few months.

"That's settled then," TJ smiled, looking around at his friends, "let's go play some basketball."

99999

"_A week of no recess," Gus complained as he sat down with his friends at lunch after leaving the principal's office, "all for just saying math stinks."_

"_And slamming your book shut," Mikey shook his head._

"_Well, that too, but it was worth it," Gus smiled, "seeing the look on the teacher's face was classic."_

"_But now we need a fifth in basketball," Vince complained, "I can't show off my awesome skills while I'm one person short of a full team."_

_Gretchen looked about ready to speak up before Vince stopped a passing boy, "hey Phil, you want to play fifth in basketball today?"_

_As Phil nodded, Gretchen looked back down at her book, chastising herself for trying to get the others to let her play in their game. She knew that she was not as good as an athlete as any of them, or anybody in the fifth grade as a matter of fact. Mikey noticed the look on Gretchen's face as she tried to hide her disappointment. He had noticed for some time her growing disinterest for the group and had a feeling it had some large part to do with not being picked first for any sport in the school. He had felt this way on many occasions and felt sad that he could not help her in any way that he could think of._

"_That's settled then," Vince smiled, looking around at his friends, "let's go play some basketball."_


	4. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

December 15th, Sixth Grade

"Where is Spinelli at?" Mikey asked as he sat down at the lunch table with the rest of the group. The group had been separated into two classrooms for the first time since fourth grade. Gretchen, Vince, and Mikey had all made it into the honors sixth grade class. Spinelli, TJ, and Gus were in a regular class.

"In the office again," TJ rolled his eyes. A second later, Gretchen and Vince joined the table having a heated discussion about what the others could only make out to be about protons, neutrons, and electrons, TJ greeted them, "hey guys. What are your plans for recess?"

"Homework," both replied, glancing at each other.

"You always do homework," Gus complained, "we need some people to play basketball with. Gretch, you played basketball all the time last year."

"I know, but …," Gretchen started, but then glanced over at Vince, who had his nose buried in a book.

"I get it," TJ laughed, "Gretchen doesn't want anybody to be outdone by Vince."

"Whatever Teej," Gretchen snapped, "have you come up with an idea for the class prank yet?"

"Nope," TJ shrugged, "I play basketball."

"I have an idea," Gus spoke up, "and it is a pretty good one."

"Good," Mikey said, glancing at TJ, "we were about to have to sacrifice our greatest chance at leaving a memory behind of our class in this school."

"Hello Spinelli," Vince greeted as Spinelli joined their table a few seconds later. Spinelli grunted in greeting.

"What did you get sent to the office for this time?" Gretchen asked her best friend, in a slightly scolding manner.

"Talking back," Spinelli shrugged, "what does it matter to you anyways? The teachers just all have it in for me."

"Maybe you get in trouble because you are constantly doing things that are wrong," Mikey suggested, breaking his usually peace-keeping role.

"The question is, are you going to have to sit out of recess again? Because if I have to find another replacement for you, I might have to make it a permanent change," TJ asked the girl, a little aloofly.

"No, oh mighty TJ," Spinelli rolled her eyes, "it will not interfere with your basketball team."

"Good, because you have a toughness that can rarely be matched," TJ informed her. The look on his face seemed that his simple compliment must be taken as a great praising.

"So," Mikey decided to change the subject as Spinelli rolled her eyes at TJ again, "Vince, what did you think of that English test this morning?"

"I think that it went fairly well," Vince replied solemnly, finally looking up from his book, "number three was a very well-worded question and I think that I answered in a sufficient manner."

Gus looked at his friend, a little dumbfounded. He could not remember anybody, including Gretchen, sound as smart as Vince sounded sometimes. It seemed to be taking its toll on Gretchen though, who looked very upset at the whole thing.

8888

_December 15__th__, Sixth Grade_

"_Where is Gus at?" Mikey asked as he sat down at the lunch table with Vince, Spinelli, and TJ. The group had been separated into two classrooms for the first time since fourth grade. Gretchen and Mikey had made it into the honors sixth grade class. Spinelli, TJ, Vince and Gus were in a regular class. _

"_In the office again," TJ rolled his eyes, "where's Gretchen?"_

"_In the library," Mikey shook his head, "she has not joined us for lunch in about three weeks. Spinelli, do you know what has happened to her?"_

"_What?" Spinelli asked, pretending to examine her fingernails, as not to make eye contact, "we haven't exactly been the best of friends lately."_

"_Anyways," TJ said, trying to break the uneasy silence that had fallen over the group, "class prank coming up, and I have the most amazing idea."_

"_Good," Mikey said, glancing at TJ, "we do not want to have to sacrifice our greatest chance at leaving a memory behind of our class in this school."_

"_Hello Gus," Vince greeted as Gus joined their table a few seconds later. Gus grunted in greeting._

"_What did you get sent to the office for this time?" Mikey asked his best friend, in a slightly scolding manner._

"_Talking back," Gus shrugged, "what does it matter to you anyways? The teachers just all have it in for me."_

"_Maybe you get in trouble because you are constantly doing things that are wrong," TJ suggested, not even thinking about his previous records of harmless pranks that had landed him in the office._

"_Like you haven't been sent to the office about a hundred times," Gus snapped at him. _

"_The question is, are you going to have to sit out of recess again? Because if I have to find another replacement for you, I might have to make it a permanent change," Vince asked the boy, a little aloofly._

"_No, oh mighty Vince," Gus rolled her eyes, "it will not interfere with your basketball team."_

"_Good," Vince stated, "you are a pretty good basketball player."_

"_So," Mikey decided to change the subject as Gus rolled his eyes at Vince again, "how is your class going?"_

"_Okay," Spinelli shrugged, "what about the honors class?"_

"_We took an English test today that tested every aspect of my knowledge," Mikey responded, "the third question was very complex and I do not think that I wrote down enough for my response."_

"_Right then," TJ chuckled, "and let me guess, Gretchen did amazing on it."_

"_Of course," Mikey shook his head, "I was sitting next to her and she was zooming through the questions."_

_TJ smiled at his friend. He was glad that Gretchen was doing so well in class. She had seemed to be somewhat withdrawn from the group since about fourth grade. He couldn't tell what exactly was bugging her, but he was sure it had something to do with never being able to play sports with them. He only wished that Gretchen's so-called best friend, Spinelli, would take the time to figure out what was wrong with Gretchen._

_8888_

"Hey Vince," TJ caught up to his best friend later as he walked home. Lately he felt as if Vince was just his best friend in name only, and was not really wanting to spend anytime with him, so today he felt as if he needed to talk to the guy.

"Hey TJ," Vince greeted, trying to hide the scar on his face. He had a habit of doing that since he had gotten it in fourth grade. It embarrassed him, especially in the presence of the boy who had taken his spot as the best athlete at Third Street School.

"Want to play some basketball or something?" TJ asked awkwardly, trying to come up with something that the two of them had in common.

"You know I have not played basketball in two years," Vince rolled his eyes, "plus, it is freezing outside and looks as if it is about to snow, so I think I will go home and curl up with a good book for the evening."

"Vince?" TJ asked, after a somewhat awkward silence filling the air.

"Yes TJ?" Vince replied.

"Are we even friends anymore?" TJ asked, "I mean, we barely hang out anymore. You like school, I like basketball …,"

"TJ, I believe that part of me will always consider you a friend, but for sake's of actually hanging out, I think we quit being best friends a long time ago," Vince shortly replied, before heading off, leaving TJ alone on the sidewalk.

888888

"_Hey Gretchen," Spinelli caught up to her best friend later as she walked home. Lately she felt as if Gretchen was just her best friend in name only, and was not really wanting to spend anytime with her, so today she felt as if she needed to talk to the girl._

"_Hey Spinelli," Gretchen greeted, trying to not make eye contact with the girl. Ever since that day in fourth grade when it had become obvious to her that she would never be picked first she had been trying to avoid most of the group._

"_Want to go to park or something?" Spinelli asked awkwardly, trying to come up with something that the two of them had in common._

"_Please, I haven't even been out for recess all year," Gretchen rolled her eyes, "plus, it is freezing outside and looks as if it is about to snow, so I think I will o home and curl up with a good book for the evening."_

"_Gretchen?" TJ asked, after a somewhat awkward silence filling the air._

"_Yes Spinelli?" Gretchen replied._

"_Are we even friends anymore?" Spinelli asked, "I mean, we barely hang out anymore. You like school, I like wrestling …,"_

"_Spinelli, I believe that part of me will always consider you a friend, but for sake's of actually hanging out, I think we quit being best friends a long time ago," Gretchen shortly replied, before heading off, leaving Spinelli alone on the sidewalk._


	5. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

April 27th, Seventh Grade

TJ Detweiler walked down the hallway of the junior high he had been attending for almost a year. He had never felt like a more liked person than he had after entering junior high. He was the star of the basketball team and most people loved him. This kind of popularity had never come with being a class clown. Of course, this had its drawbacks, one of the worst being the fact that TJ Detweiler never talked to his old best friend, Vince LaSalle, anymore. After Vince had been brutally honest with him, TJ just kind of stopped hanging out with him. In fact, he did not even see him anymore. And it wasn't just Vince that he didn't talk to anymore, Mikey was getting scarcer and scarcer with his time at the newspaper, Gretchen was trying to keep up with Vince's rapidly growing intelligence, and Spinelli was suspended more than she was actually at school, in fact, the only person who he actually hung out with on a regular basis was Gus Griswald.

Speaking of Gus, he suddenly appeared out of a classroom and joined TJ, "Hey TJ."

"Hey Gus," TJ smiled at his friend, "played any good tricks lately?"

Ever since coming up with the idea for the sixth grade prank, Gus Griswald had turned to jokes and pranks to have fun. He had become, in essence, the person TJ had been in fourth grade before becoming a big basketball star. Like TJ, this new status had come at a price, he rarely saw any of the old gang anymore, and his best friend, Mikey, had quit talking to him after a particularly funny prank where he dumped water on a couple of the Ashley's. Mikey had not been happy because the Ashley's had cried, or something like that.

"Of course," Gus shook his head as the two began to walk towards class, "I wonder if anybody else in the gang is going to be in homeroom."

The group that Gus and TJ had just been thinking about all shared the same homeroom first period. However, Gus and TJ were usually the only two to show up because Gretchen and Vince were at the library, studying, Mikey was running around trying to write his article for the paper, and Spinelli was usually suspended.

"Probably not," TJ grinned as they sat down in their seats in the classroom.

As the seats filled in around them, the prediction TJ had made seemed to be coming true as none of the gang seemed to appear.

"So, are we playing basketball after school?" Gus asked TJ, already pretty sure of what the answer to that question was going to be.

"Of course we are!" TJ explained, "Lawson just doesn't know when to give up."

The two continued to talk in low voices about Lawson and TJ's ongoing rivalry as the teacher came in and sat at his desk. Most homerooms required you to be quiet so people could study, but TJ and Gus had landed in a good homeroom and continued to talk about basketball and Gus's latest prank through the period.

9999

_April 27__th__, Seventh Grade_

_Ashley Spinelli walked down the hallway of the junior high she had been attending for almost a year. She had never felt more alone than she had after entering junior high. Ever since Gretchen and she had stopped being best friends, Spinelli hadn't had any good girl friends. Gretchen even had new friends, most with somewhat nasty nicknames, such as Bow-legged Betty, Four-eyed Franny, and Nasty-haired Nancy. Not that she didn't still hang out with some of the old gang, she was still good friend with both TJ and Vince. Mikey spent most of his time with the newspaper now however, and Gus spent most of his time in detention and suspended. So, Spinelli knew she needed to find a way to make some more girl friends._

_As she thought about this, she came to a stop by the school's bulletin board. In the very middle, she noticed a sign for cheerleading try-outs. She scoffed at the idea of what airheads would possibly try out for cheerleader._

_"Thinking of trying out for cheerleading?" Ashley Q. quietly asked beside her._

_"No way," Spinelli rolled her eyes, beginning to back away from the board to go to class._

_"You should really think about it," Ashley Q. stated to her, but before turning away she added one more statement, "I think you would make a good cheerleader."_

_Spinelli contemplate__d__ the words of __Ashley Q. as she headed into the classroom. Maybe she would try out for cheerleading._

_Mikey Blumberg watched his old friend Spinelli enter the class with a thoughtful look on her face and sat next to Vince and TJ. He hadn't really talked to any of them lately, with the exception of Gus Griswald. Gus and himself were still considered best friends, no matter how many times Gus had gotten suspended for doing something somewhat less than acceptable for the school. He now worked for the school newspaper and was having a great time writing the school's poetry section along with regularly assigned articles. _

_"Mikey Blumberg," the teacher said, coming up behind him. The teacher who happened to be the entire gang's homeroom teacher was also the newspaper editor and usually let Mikey leave to help put the paper together, or go write his article._

_"Hello," he greeted the teacher respectfully._

_"I was wondering if you would like to take the school newspaper article on the cheerleading try-outs. The normal sports writer is out sick for the week," the teacher informed him, "I can find someone else to do it if you would rather not."_

_"No, I would be happy to do it," Mikey assured him. He then turned around to face the front, vaguely hearing Spinelli say something like she was going to try out for cheerleading to Vince and TJ. He realized he must be hearing things because there was no way Ashley Spinelli would ever try out to be a cheerleader. Of course, he reasoned, he would always find out later today._

_9999_

Vince LaSalle watched TJ Detweiler and Gus Griswald walk by the library as they left the homeroom class they all were supposed to share. Surprisingly enough, he did not feel a deep sorrow from the loss of TJ's friendship that he had always anticipated would be there if he had lost TJ as a friend. Actually, Vince didn't feel that bad about losing any of his old friends. In fact, Vince had never felt more alive than he did whenever he was taking a math test that he knew he could be the best in the class at. Vince had always liked to be the best at everything, and he had achieved it well in his academic career in the last few years.

"Hey Vince," his friend, Carl, said beside him, "are you ready to go to class?"

As he made his way to class, Vince kept his head down low. One of the things that had never really gone away from his childhood was the scar on his face, and he imagined people were making fun of it all the time as he walked down the halls, as he sat in class, and even if he went to a school function, which, he admitted he hardly ever did.

He entered the classroom with a sigh of relief. Vince LaSalle had felt in the last few years that invisibility was the way to accomplish great things. And he had accomplished almost complete invisibility.

9999

_Gretchen Grundler watched Ashley Spinelli and Vince LaSalle walk by the library as they left the homeroom class they all were supposed to share. __Surprisingly enough, __s__he did not feel a deep __sorrow from the loss of Spinellis__'s friendship that __s__he had always anticipated would be there if __she had lost Spinelli__ as a friend__. In fact, her friends now seemed to be more in tune with her than Spinelli had ever been. Maybe it was because they were all on an equal intelligence level and could have very stimulating conversations._

_"Hey Gretchen__," h__er__ friend, __Nancy__, said beside h__er__, "are yo__u ready to go__ to class?"_

_As she made her way to class, Gretchen kept her head down low. She felt that even though she was a lot happier than she had ever been before, staying invisible in school was important. If she didn't stay invisible, the Ashley's would come and make fun of her for whatever reason they saw fit. Usually about her friends, such as Nasty-haired Nancy. In fact, Gretchen was sure before long they would give her an unoriginal nickname, such as Gross Gretchen or Gap-toothed Gretchen._

_Gretchen, however, found the nicknames hard to bear. She did not understand how her other friends could endure such insulates. Even though she had received such insults for years, Gretchen Grundler was sure that the Ashley's were tripling their effort to make her feel inferior to them. And Gretchen knew that it was working._


	6. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

May 30th, Eighth Grade

Gretchen Grundler walked down the hallway of the junior high that she was about to complete. She had never felt like a more useless person than she had in the last twenty-four hours. Vince LaSalle had just been named class valedictorian for the class promotion of their junior high career. She knew that her and Vince's friendship had pretty much been laid in shambles from the beginning of Vince's career as a serious student. This only helped solidify the split. Gretchen had even lost her best friend, Ashley Spinelli, to suspensions, detentions, and rule-breaking. The others in the group had quickly followed as TJ Detweiler was caught up in being the school's biggest basketball star, Gus Griswald was busy pulling harmless pranks, and Mikey Blumberg spent most of his time composing poetry and working on the newspaper.

Gretchen decided she needed a new purpose in life if she wasn't allowed to be the smartest in the school anymore. She had to be the best at something. She needed to be the best at something.

"I hear the high school cheerleaders are accepting only three girls for their squad," a girl said to her friend as she passed by Gretchen, "what does that say about the Ashley's?"

Gretchen ignored the girl's comments and continued to walk, until …

"I think that Ashley Q. won't make the cheerleading squad," another girl predicted to her friend.

Gretchen shook her head in response to this one also, and walked into class. But, Gretchen couldn't help but wonder why she was so interested in these cheerleading try-outs for high school.

Mikey Blumberg watched his old friend Gretchen enter the classroom with a mixture of sadness and deep thought on her face. He knew that Vince had just recently been named their valedictorian and that Gretchen must be trying to find someplace else to fit in, someplace else to be the best, or close to it."Mikey Blumberg," the teacher said, coming up behind him. The teacher who happened to be the entire gang's homeroom teacher in seventh grade was also the newspaper editor and usually let Mikey leave to help put the paper together, or go write his article."Hello," he greeted the teacher respectfully."I was wondering if you would like to take the school newspaper article on the high school cheerleading try-outs. The normal sports writer is out sick for the week," the teacher informed him, "I can find someone else to do it if you would rather not. But since the high schoolers are only allowing three spots, I thought it would be an interesting news paper article about those who didn't make it.""No, I would be happy to do it," Mikey assured him. He then turned around to face the front as the teacher began to make his way forward to teach the class. He saw Gretchen quickly glance up front as if she was trying to listen to what the teacher was telling Mikey. Mikey didn't know what was going on, but he just let it be, ready for a new article.

9999

_May 30, Eighth Grade_

_Vince LaSalle walked down the hallway of the junior high that he was about to complete. He had never felt like a more talented person than he had in the last twenty-four hours. The coach of the high school basketball team had pretty much guaranteed him a starting spot on the high school team. Not to mention the fact that his best friend, TJ Detweiler, was well on his way to becoming known as the prankster king of elementary, junior high, and high school. Despite the fact that Gretchen Grundler had gone totally nerdy and just cared about school, and being named class valedictorian just yesterday, Gus Griswald getting suspended every five minutes, and Mikey Blumberg joining the newspaper and never seeing him again, Vince, TJ, and Ashley Spinelli had managed to keep a fairly decent friendship._

_In fact, Spinelli had even become a cheerleader for her eighth grade year, sealing the deal on the three's absolute ability to run the junior high. And Spinelli had grown up a lot, a fact that had not escaped Vince's notice, or anybody else's for that matter, as she swept by him with a brief smile before turning back to the other Ashley's. He wondered if she was going to be able to make it into the high school squad because they were only accepting three of the junior high cheerleaders._

_"Thinking about Spinelli again?" TJ questioned Vince as he joined his friend by his locker._

_"No," Vince rolled his eyes. _

_TJ was convinced that his best friend had a crush on Ashley Spinelli. He had known for about six months, ever since Vince had been injured at a game and the only person he wanted to go with him to the hospital was Spinelli, who as his friend was more than willing to take him. TJ tried to convince himself he didn't have a problem with this, but his stomach got all knotty every time he would think about it. _

_"Are you going to watch Spinelli at cheerleading try-outs?" TJ asked, deciding to change the subject._

_"I think so," Vince answered, "I hope she gets the spot. She's pretty good though. Must be from all those years of wrestling."_

_"Yeah," TJ smiled, "she's pretty impressive, especially with those lifts, she can lift people pretty well."_

_"I know," Vince smiled back, "and could you imagine the three of us next year? We'd have the three most prominent places as freshmen."_

_"And since we know its all about the status," TJ was the one to roll his eyes this time, starting to walk towards class, "high school will be fun with or without the popularity contest."_

_"But it will definitely be a lot more fun with it," Vince caught up to him, "actually, you should try out for the basketball team."_

_"Why would I?" TJ asked, "I was awful this year, didn't even make second string."_

_"True," Vince didn't try to conceal a lie, "but, that could really seal the deal on our popularity if you made any string."_

_TJ just rolled his eyes again before walking into the classroom._

_000000_

Ashley Spinelli was in shock as she walked down the hallway to her detention classroom. She had just seen her old best friend, Gretchen Grundler, heading into the gymnasium for cheerleading try-outs. She didn't know what had suddenly come over Gretchen, but cheerleading try-outs? Only a complete idiot would try out for cheerleading. Spinelli knew Gretchen must have been going through a hard time with her not being named class valedictorian, but why cheerleading? She could have become a basketball player, or even break rules with Spinelli. But, cheerleading was one of those things that made Spinelli never want to admit she was friends with you.

"Hello Spinelli," Shawn, her detention friend, greeted her as she walked into the classroom.

"Hey Shawn," she greeted back, plopping down in the seat next to him.

As Shawn talked about his latest plot to get into detention, Spinelli started to think again about Gretchen and the cheerleading squad. And what it would be like if Gretchen made the cheerleading squad, TJ Detweiler was already guaranteed a starting position on the high school team, and Gus Griswald had a cool factor that nobody had ever known him to possess in elementary school. With the three of them together, her high school years could be a disaster experience.

Not that she planned on spending much time actually in school.

99999

_Gus Griswald watched in disgust as his best friend, Mikey Blumberg, walked into the gymnasium to write an article on the high school cheerleading try-outs. Gus didn't understand why Mikey took such stupid assignments for the paper. Who really cared about cheerleading? He knew Spinelli was trying out for high school cheerleading, and that TJ and Vince would probably be there to support her. The mere thought of Spinelli as a cheerleader made him want to barf. Of all the things for Spinelli to do to fit in, she chose cheerleading? And with the Ashley's, Gus had always had more respect for Spinelli than to think she would do something that ridiculous and wrong._

_"Hello Gus," Shawn, his detention friend, greeted him as he walked into the classroom._

_"Hey Shawn," he greeted back, plopping down in the seat next to him._

_As Shawn talked about his latest plot__ to get into detention, Gus __start__ed to think again about Spinelli__ and the cheerleading squad. And w__hat it would be like if Spinelli__ made the cheerleading squad, __Vince LaSalle __was already guaranteed a starting position on the high school team, and __TJ Detweiler__ had __maintained his cool image throughout junior high and no doubt would continue to possess it through high school. With the three of them together, his high school years could be a disaster experience._

_Not that he planned on spending much time actually in school._


	7. Chapter Six

Chapter Six

November 23rd, Ninth Grade

TJ Detweiler, Gus Griswald, Gretchen Grundler, and the rest of the basketball and cheerleading team, including Lawson, Ashley Q., and Ashley A., walked down the hallway. Today was the first game of the first season TJ was going to be playing as a starter on the high school team. Gretchen was also going to be cheering in her first high school basketball game. As they walked down the hallway, looking as untouchable as they felt, TJ couldn't help but think that today's game was going to be easier than everybody thought it would.

"Look, if it isn't the power trio," Spinelli sarcastically said as the group passed by her.

"You actually made it to school today?" Gretchen asked, arching an eyebrow at her old best friend as herself, TJ, and Gus turned around to face Spinelli.

"Yeah, who wouldn't miss the first day of the new basketball season?" Spinelli asked sarcastically, standing straight from the locker she was leaning against, "I have big plans for today."

As she walked off, the "power trio" as Spinelli had called them gave each other questioning looks.

"She didn't mean anything by that," Gus tried to assure them, "she wouldn't do anything stupid."

"You're right," the other two mumbled in agreement, somewhat unconvincingly.

"Actually," a fourth voice spoke up behind them. All three turned to see Vince LaSalle standing there with five or six heavy books in his arms, "the probability of Ashley Spinelli ruining your first basketball game is very big for two reasons. First, she does not care what happens to her educational or future career. Second, she has a complete disdain for the three of you and everything you represent."

"Shut up," TJ snapped at his old best friend, "if she knows what is good for her, she'll stay away from the basketball team."

"I'm sure she's scared," Vince deadpanned, "you have to understand her position. You guys are her old friends and basically run the school. She doesn't like it."

"And neither do you," Gretchen pointed out, "so, I think you are just trying to scare us."

"I was just trying to be helpful," Vince finally said, after several seconds of silence, "you can believe what you want. However, the odds show that Spinelli is planning on embarrassing you today."

"Thanks for the head-up," Gus finished the conversation, the three walking away with this statement to catch back up with the basketball and cheerleading teams, who had left them behind when they had stopped to talk to Spinelli earlier.

"We're okay," TJ reasoned, "Gus is the master of pranks, and he says there is no way that she is going to do something."

"Right," Gus smiled, rather uneasily. He did not want the whole thing to depend on the fact that he had said that it couldn't be done.

But, as the three began to walk down the hallway, each felt somewhat better about the idea that Ashley Spinelli could not ruin their first basketball day.

9999999

_November 23__rd__, Ninth Grade_

_Vince LaSalle, TJ Detweiler, Ashley Spinelli__, and the rest of the basketball and cheerleading __team, including Lawson, Ashley B., and Ashley T__., walked down the hallway. Today was the f__irst game of the first season Vince __was going to be playing as a starter on the high school team. __Spinelli__ was also going to be cheering in her first high school basketball game. As they walked down the hallway, looking__ as untouchable as they felt, Vince__ couldn't help but think that today's game was going to be easier than everybody thought it would._

_"Look, if it__ isn't the power trio," Gus__ sarcastically__ said as the group passed by him_

_"You actually ma__de it to school today?" TJ __asked, arching an eyebrow at h__is old friend as himself, Vince, and Spinelli turned around to face Gus_

_"Yeah, who wouldn't miss the first day of the __new basketball season?" Gus__ asked sarcastically, sta__nding straight from the locker __he was leaning against, "I have big plans for today."_

_As __he walked off,__ the "power trio" as Gus__ had called them gave each other questioning looks._

_"She di__dn't mean anything by that," TJ__ tried to assure them, "she wouldn't do anything stupid."_

_"You're right," the other two mumbled in agreement, somewhat unconvincingly._

_"Actually," a fourth voice spoke up behind them. All t__hree turned to see Gretchen Grundler__ standing there with five or six heavy books in his arms, "t__he probability of Gus Griswald__ ruining your first basketball game is ve__ry big for two reasons. First, __he does not care__ what happens to his__ educati__onal or future career. Second, __he has a complete disdain for the three of you and everything you represent."_

_"Shut up," Spinelli__ snapped at__ her old best friend, "if __he knows what is good for__ him, __he'll stay away from the basketball team."_

_"I'm sure he's scared," Gretchen__ deadpan__ned, "you have to understand his position. You guys are his__ old friends and basically run the school. __H__e doesn't like it."_

_"And neither do you," Vince__ pointed out, "so, I think you are just trying to scare us."_

_"I was j__ust trying to be helpful," Gretchen__ finally said, after several seconds of silence, "you can believe what you want. How__ever, the odds show that Gus__ is planning on embarrassing you today."_

_"Thanks for the head-up," TJ__ finished the conversation, the three walking away with this statement to catch back up with the basketball and cheerleading teams, who had left them behind when they__ had stopped to talk to Gus__ earlier._

_"We're okay," Vince reasoned, "TJ__ is the master of pranks, and he says there is no way that __Gus __is going to do something."_

_"Right," TJ__ smiled, rather uneasily. He did not want the whole thing to depend on the fact that he had said that it couldn't be done._

_But, as the three began to walk down the hallway, each felt somewhat better abou__t the idea that Gus Griswald __could not ruin their first basketball day._

_99999_

"Oh my gosh," Gretchen muttered as she entered the gym later that day. No matter how reassured she had felt, she now realized that Vince had been right. Spinelli did do something. TJ and Gus walked up next to her, each shaking their heads at the way the gym looked.

"Who did this?" the coach roared as he came in behind his players and saw the gym. It was covered in toilet paper and shaving cream, along with crepe paper representing the school colors of the school they were to be playing against today. Gus, TJ, and Gretchen all glanced at each other.

"You can't turn me in," Spinelli whispered as she joined them, the rest of the school was supposed to be having a pep rally, "you don't have any proof."

Mikey Blumberg watched as his friends glared after Spinelli as she walked away from them, looking happier than he had remembered seeing her in a long time.

"Blumberg," the newspaper editor approached him, "are you getting all this information? This would make a good first page article, and I'm expecting you to write it."

"Really sir?" Mikey asked, excitedly. Freshmen hardly ever got to write the front page story.

"Sure," the editor smiled, "especially since you know the star basketball player."

"Thank you very much," Mikey said, almost bouncing up and down.

"What do you want Mikey?" TJ sighed as Mikey approached him.

"I was wondering if you would like to give an interview about the events that have happened at the gym today," Mikey said professionally. A grin spread across TJ's face as an idea came to him.

"Sure," he casually said.

99999

_"Oh my gosh," Spinelli __muttered as she entered the gym later that day. No matter how reassured she had f__elt, she now realized that Gretchen had been right. Gus__ did do something. __Vince and TJ__ walked up next to her, each shaking their heads at the way the gym looked._

_"Who did this?" the coach roared as he came in behind his players and saw the gym. It was covered in toilet paper and shaving cream, along with crepe paper representing the school colors of the school they were to be playing against today. __TJ, Vince, and Spinelli__ all glanced at each other._

_"You can't turn me in," Gus__ whispered as__he joined them, the rest of the school was supposed to be having a pep rally, "you don't have any proof."_

_Mikey Blumberg watched as h__is friends glared after Gus__ as__he walked away from them, looking happier t__han he had remembered seeing him__ in a long time. _

_"Blumberg," the newspaper editor approached him, "are you getting all this information? This would make a good first page article, and I'm expecting you to write it."_

_"Really sir?" Mikey asked, excitedly. Freshmen hardly ever got to write the front page story._

_"Sure," the editor smiled, "especially since you know the star basketball player."_

_"Thank you very much," Mikey said, almost bouncing up and down. _

_"What do you want Mikey?" Vince sighed as Mikey approached him._

_"I was wondering if you would like to give an interview about the events that have happened at the gym today," Mikey said professionally. A grin spread across Vince's face as an idea came to him._

_"Sure," he casually said._


	8. Chapter Seven

Disclaimer: I do not own Recess or any of its characters.

Chapter Seven

November 24th, Ninth Grade

Spinelli stared in horror at the front page of the newspaper. The title of the article, "Ashley Spinelli: Liar or Vandal?" And next to the article was her school picture, taking up a large portion of the page. She quickly looked at the author of the article and saw it was none other than her old friend Mikey Blumberg. She was furious. How could he ever do such a thing to her? He was supposed to be the sweet, kind, caring one; instead he was the backstabbing, newspaper scooping one.

"For someone who doesn't care much about her reputation and what happens to her, you do look mighty angry," a quiet voice said behind her. She whipped around to see Vince LaSalle standing shyly behind her.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" she asked in a warning tone of voice.

"I was just commenting about how angry you look about the headlining article," Vince shrugged.

"The only reason I'm angry about it is because what kind of journalism is this? They have no proof that I am the one who vandalized the gym," Spinelli steadily said.

"The article talks about how you said in front of many people in the school that you had something special planned for their game, and therefore you are either a liar, by not vandalizing the gym, or a vandal, because you did vandalize the gym," Vince explained, "did you not read it?"

"Why would I want to read it?" Spinelli angrily asked, "and this is bad press, Mikey Blumberg should have never written this article."

"And you should have never vandalized my gym," TJ snapped at her as he joined the duo.

"You have no proof that I vandalized your gym," Spinelli retorted, "and this article doesn't prove anything, except that you are bitter about the fact that I outsmarted you for once."

"Whatever," TJ rolled his eyes, "just one thing I want to know, was it you that vandalized the gym or not?"

"Like I would ever tell you," Spinelli snarled.

"Its not like the principal would believe me anyways," TJ sighed, "he thinks I'm discredited as a person because I gave Mikey the idea for the article, which he considers bad journalism."

"Still not telling," Spinelli sang, before walking away. TJ then turned to Vince.

"What are you planning?" Vince curiously asked TJ.

"None of your business," was TJ's curt reply before walking off.

"None of your business," Vince mimicked TJ as he began to walk down the hallway also, stopping when he passed the newspaper office.

"Mikey Blumberg," Spinelli angrily was saying, "why in the world did you write this article?"

"Because TJ gave me the dirt on you," Mikey tried to smile nicely at his old friend.

"But … its ethically wrong," Spinelli spat out.

"Sorry," Mikey shrugged, "if you can honestly tell me that you did not vandalize the gym, I can offer a retraction."

"I ..," Spinelli started, but then looked furious, "you know I did vandalize the gym, Mikey, why else would I be so mad?"

With these words, Spinelli turned around and stormed out of the newspaper office.

999999

_November 24__th__, Ninth Grade_

_Gus smirked as he looked at the headlining article in the school newspaper. "School Vandalism: The Gym's The First" and next to it was a big picture of what the gym had looked like yesterday. He glanced at the author and saw his best friend, Mikey Blumberg, had written the article and felt even happier at that. If Mikey had written the article, even if he did suspect him beyond immeasurable doubt, he would never turn him in._

_"You look oddly happy," a quiet voice said behind him. Gus whipped around to see Gretchen Grundler standing shyly behind him._

_"Because I believe that the basketball players got what they really deserved," he serenely smiled at the girl, "this is a good article."_

_"You do know that Vince, TJ, and Spinelli all know about your part in that atrocious act, right?" Gretchen asked him._

_"Even if they did, they'll never be able to prove it, because I will never confess to it," Gus shook his head._

_"I'm sure that is a very noble approach," Gretchen rolled her eyes at her old friend._

_"Nothing is noble about Gus," Vince spoke up as he joined the duo._

_"And there is so much nobility about running up and down a court bouncing a basketball," Gus sarcastically replied._

_"More nobility than you would know what to do with," Vince retorted, "besides, if you weren't so busy vandalizing my gym, maybe you would find something noble."_

_"Maybe if you would stop accusing me of vandalizing your gym when you have no evidence, you could quit being stupid," Gus snapped at him._

_"That hurts," Vince rolled his eyes, "especially coming from someone who's out of school more than he is in it."_

_"That's cute," Gus laughed, before beginning to walk off._

_"You seem upset Vince," Gretchen said quietly as soon as Gus was out of ear shot._

_"I'm upset because he's not getting the punishment he deserves," Vince snapped at her before walking off also. _

_Gretchen made an ugly face before walking in the direction of her classroom, only to stop when she approached the newsroom and saw Mikey Blumberg and Gus Griswald in there._

_"Thanks for not publishing that article man," Gus smiled at Mikey. Mikey looked up from the project he was finishing._

_"The reason I didn't publish it was because it wasn't good journalistic ethics," Mikey stated, "not because you are my friend and I want to protect your part in the guilty affair."_

_"But, you did anyways," Gus grinned, "and you know it was at least partially because you wanted to help protect me."_

_"That is one thing that I will never reveal," Mikey also let out a small smile, "but, watch out because Vince will be on the warpath because I wouldn't publish the article his way."_

_"Already seen him," Gus shrugged, "and I think I can handle him."_

_999999_

"Ashley Spinelli, will you please report to the principal's office?" a voice said over the loud speaker. Everybody in the class turned to look at Spinelli, not really surprised about her being called into the office, because that was a frequent occurrence, but wondering what exactly would cause her to be called into the office this time.

"She's going to get suspended," TJ said nonchalantly as Spinelli left the classroom. Gus and Gretchen both looked up from their writing assignment to look at him.

"How do you know?" Gretchen whispered to him.

"Because, we set her up and she confessed to Mikey, with a tape recorder recording her," TJ grinned, whispering through gritted teeth as the teacher called for the class to be quiet.

"That's great," Gus had a hard time keeping his voice down, earning an evil look from the teacher, "but why in the world would she confess to Mikey?"

"Because he's supposed to be the understanding one," Gretchen stated, not even noticing the teacher's evil looks anymore, "and he wrote the article so she would feel betrayed by him and go talk to him. And we all know how Spinelli's anger gets the best of her sometimes."

"And we used it to our advantage," TJ shrugged, "I still have some of my old mastermind genes inside me."

"That I am glad about," Gus said, somewhat in a praising voice, "because she definitely need to learn a lesson."

"Exactly, do not mess with TJ Detweiler," TJ smiled.

999999

_Gus Griswald looked up from his paper to see Vince LaSalle glaring at him from his seat. Gus gave him a slight smirk before mouthing, "the teacher will get mad if you aren't paying attention to her."_

_"He should be suspended," Vince stated angrily as he looked back at his paper. TJ and Spinelli both looked up from their writing projects to look at him._

_"Well, if you have a way, please do enlighten us," Spinelli whispered to him, keeping her voice down so the teacher wouldn't hear them._

_"I did have an idea," Vince grumbled, "but Mikey wouldn't squeal on Gus."_

_"Of course he wouldn't," TJ stated, "Gus and Mikey are still best friends, despite their polar personalities."_

_"Well, it would have been a terrific opportunity for him," Vince sighed._

_"But Mikey doesn't care about opportunity, he cares about being kind and understanding and all that stuff," Spinelli reminded Vince._

_"I know," Vince sighed again, "that's why my plan didn't work."_

_"Maybe you should leave the planning up to me from now on," TJ whispered, not even paying attention to the evil looks the teacher was giving them anymore._

_"What are we going to do about that?" Vince questioned, jerking his head in the direction of Gus._

_"We can't frame him," TJ frowned, "but maybe we can get even with him."_

_"What do you mean?" Spinelli asked, a smile creeping across her face as she thought of all the things that TJ could suggest._

_"I do have an idea," TJ grinned, motioning for Vince and Spinelli to lean in closer. And, as they did he began to tell them about his idea._


	9. Chapter Eight

Disclaimer: I do not own Recess or any of its characters. Even though it would be fun!

Chapter Eight

January 23rd, Tenth Grade

"Did you see the talent show sign-up?" TJ asked Gus as he joined him at his locker.

"Yeah?" Gus questioned, "and what's so important about it?"

"You know how Mikey helped us get Spinelli suspended last year for ruining our gym?" TJ reminded him, "well, he's collecting on his favor and wants us to make the entire basketball and cheerleading teams come."

"He still hasn't collected on that favor?" Gus arched an eyebrow, "isn't there like a deadline on those kinds of things?"

"It is not a big deal," TJ shrugged, "I just figured we'd go see Mikey perform, and then leave. Besides, it was a huge favor."

"That started an ongoing war with Spinelli that she is inevitably going to lose," Gretchen chimed in as she joined the group.

"Exactly," TJ smiled at her, "and, therefore, we owe Mikey big."

As soon as he finished his statement, Ashley Spinelli walked past their group. Each person turned and looked at her, glaring at her. Ever since her suspension last year, Spinelli and the others had battle after battle to prove who was better. Spinelli kept losing, mainly due to the support of most of the school on the other's side. However, this did not keep Spinelli down; she kept reassuring herself that someday she, as the underdog, would win this fight.

"Okay, I'm in," Gus sighed, as soon as Spinelli was out of earshot.

"Great," TJ smiled, "now, how exactly do we get the rest of the basketball team to come?"

"Shouldn't be too hard," Gus shrugged, "tell them that there will be girls there."

"But, there won't be," Gretchen reminded him.

"There will be when you tell the cheerleading squad that there will be boys there," Gus reminded her, shutting his locker and turning to the other two, "let's get to class."

"Yay for history," Gretchen rolled her eyes as they began to walk away.

Vince LaSalle shook his head as he watched his friends leave the hallway as he was coming out of the library. Gretchen, who had always cared so much about school, had now turned into one of those people who hated school and thought it was more for the social life than the learning, even though Vince knew she could still be smart. He felt guilty and somewhat like it was his fault because had started to become more interested in school.

"Are you thinking about them again?" Carl questioned as he hurried out of the library.

"Yeah," Vince tried to unsuccessfully smile as they began to walk towards their classroom, "I just can't believe I actually ever hung out with those guys."

"We all have mistakes in our past," Carl laughed, "and besides, it is not like you are friends with them now."

"True," Vince smiled, a real one this time, "I guess I just think about how Gretchen could be really smart if she wanted to be, but instead she is a cheerleader."

"And you blame yourself," Vince didn't either confirm or deny Carl's statement as they walked into the classroom.

999999

_January 23rd, Tenth Grade_

_"Did you see the sign-ups for the talent show?" Vince rolled his eyes as he joined TJ at his locker, "Mikey signed up."_

_"Of course he did," TJ reasoned, "he does like to sing and write songs. But, you aren't going to talk me into going are you?"_

_"Why would I want to go?" Vince snapped, "ever since Mikey turned down that stupid article, I want everybody to not go."_

_"That could be arranged," TJ smiled, "We still need to get Gus back for his latest prank against us, and by making sure nobody goes to the talent show, it'll hurt Mikey, which will hurt Gus."_

_"You know, I like it when you use your prank skills for evil genius ideas," Vince laughed, "do you think that it will be difficult?"_

_"What will be difficult?" Spinelli added another question as she joined the duo._

_"Getting people to not go to the talent show," Vince informed her, "TJ has a plan."_

_"If TJ has a plan, then obviously it can't be too difficult," Spinelli said firmly._

_"It shouldn't be that hard," TJ calculated, "if we just talk about how much it is going to suck, and pretty much declare how we are going to socially shun anybody who even thinks about going, then the popular and the people who want to be popular won't go. And then we can promise the nerds date with some of the cheerleaders or something."_

_"The cheerleaders will never agree to it," Spinelli protested._

_"I didn't say we actually had to give them the dates," TJ laughed at her, "I just said we have to promise them the dates."_

_"Sometimes you are more evil with every minute," Vince shook his head in amusement._

_"Speaking of evil," Spinelli muttered, and they all turned to look at Gus Griswald as he passed by. Gus and the gang had gotten into a fairly interesting war since the gym incident last year, with Gus pulling out more wins than his popular counterparts, but none of them giving up yet._

_"Come on, let's get to class," TJ said, shutting his locker._

_Gretchen Grundler watched her old friends leave for class as she was coming out of the library. Something made her take another step back in order for them not to see her._

_"Hey Gretch, what's the hold-up?" __Nancy__ inquired as she joined Gretchen at the door to the library. As she peeked out, she saw the friends and understanding dawned on her, "them again?"_

_"What?" Gretchen asked, clearly trying to look puzzled. _

_"You haven't been friends with them for years," __Nancy__ reminded her, "you shouldn't still be thinking about them."_

_"And yet I do," Gretchen shrugged, "I don't really miss them. I just, I guess I wish I did."_

_"That doesn't make sense," __Nancy__ pointed out as they began to walk out of the library towards class._

_"I know," Gretchen sighed, "but, it's true."_

_9999999_

"When I see you, and you see me too," Mikey sang as he was practicing for the talent show next week. Suddenly, he heard a clap and looked up to see TJ Detweiler standing in the doorframe.

"You're pretty good," TJ complimented him.

"Hey Teej," Mikey greeted, "did you talk to Gus and Gretchen?"

"We're coming," TJ answered, "and we'll bring as many people as we can."

"Thanks TJ," Mikey cracked a smile at him.

"Just returning a favor," TJ shrugged, before turning and leaving the room.

Mikey didn't know when he had become somebody who was willing to turn in another human being, just to get something in return. It made him feel sick.

He began to strum on his guitar again, thinking about how lucky he was to get to play in this talent show. And even though he had gotten TJ and the others to come for the wrong reasons, it would still be helpful to all of the rest of the people who were choosing to compete in the talent show, by boosting audience attendance it could in turn boost their confidence.

"It's not like they didn't already know it was Spinelli," Mikey reasoned.

Yet, Mikey couldn't help but feel that by rationalizing his actions, he was making the whole thing a lot worse. He had always thought of himself as a gentle, caring, neutral guy. And, now, here he was rationalizing the fact that he had helped land an old friend a week of suspension, all for the opportunity to have many people come watch him in a talent show. What had become of him?

9999

_"When I see you, and you see me too," Mikey sang as he was practicing for the talent show next week__. When he heard a single clap he looked up from his guitar and saw Gus standing in the doorway._

_"You're pretty good," Gus complimented as he sat down in a desk next to Mikey.__"Thanks," Mikey smiled, "so, are you going to come watch me at the talent show?"_

_Gus hesitated a moment before answering, "Mikey, you know that's not really my thing. I'm more of a, a … well, not a talent show person."_

_"I'm not asking you to sing in it," Mikey pointed out, "I just want you to listen to me."_

_"Sorry man," Gus said, standing up, and heading towards the door, "it just doesn't fit me. But, you'll do great."_

_Mikey sighed as Gus left. He knew he shouldn't have expected Gus to come, but with Gus being his only real friend, he had half-expected him to come. Besides, hadn't he been the one to save Gus's butt last year over the whole gym incident? He hadn't turned him in, even though he knew it was him._

_As he began strumming his guitar, he thought about all the other people that were going to be there. Sure, it was going to be mainly nerds and dorks, but at least someone would get to hear his new song. And that was all he asked for._


	10. Chapter Nine

Disclaimer: I do not own Recess or any of its characters.

Chapter Nine

January 30, Tenth Grade

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Lawson complained as he sat down in the seat next to Gretchen in the auditorium for the talent show.

"Just shut up and deal," TJ hissed at him from his spot on the other side of Lawson, "once Mikey performs we'll get up and leave."

"And you don't think they're going to notice thirty teenagers sneaking out halfway through the talent show?" Lawson shot back at him.

"We'll go in groups," Gus snapped at him, he was seated on the other side of Gretchen, "and you'll be in the first group because you are annoying me."

"Thanks," Lawson smiled, ignoring the part about him annoying Gus. Gus leaned back in his seat, rolling his eyes.

While they had been holding this conversation, Mikey Blumberg was peeking out from behind the curtain to see an almost full audience conversing and waiting for the show to start. And while he considered that most of these people were probably parents and family members, he also saw a lot of students, a lot more than had appeared at last year's talent show.

"Great turn-out," the talent show coordinator commented, joining Mikey at the curtain, "I wonder why all those basketball players came."

"Maybe they are just enjoying the fine arts," Mikey suggested, trying to repress a grin.

"Yeah, I'm sure that's it," the coordinator said, sarcastically, "Mikey, you are on about halfway through."

Mikey just nodded, leaving the curtain area to go practice one last time and try and calm his nerves.

"When is Mikey coming on?" hissed Lawson after about an hour of watching people try and sing, tap dance, and various other so-called 'talents'. As soon as the words left his mouth the coordinator came out and announced Mikey being next.

"Right now," Gretchen snapped at him. She had half a mind to kill TJ for sticking her next to Lawson when he knew that Lawson would complain the whole time.

"When I see you and you see me too," Mikey began to sing after coming onto the stage, strumming his guitar as he went along.

"Hey, he's actually not bad," Lawson whispered a half-compliment to Gretchen as Mikey continued to play. Gretchen just nodded, indicating for him to pay attention to the music.

"And this is when I see you and you see me too," Mikey ended his song a couple of minutes later. After he exited the stage, Lawson stood up, trying to stand as bent over as possible so as not to be spotted, Gretchen, Gus, and TJ all quickly followed him, heading towards the doors of the auditorium.

As soon as Lawson opened the doors, however, a big bunch of liquid, being held by a bucket at the top of the doorframe, splashed all over them. Gus, who had seen TJ and Gretchen getting splashed had tried to move away, but had not managed in time.

"This is soda pop," TJ hissed as he smelled the stuff. The four teenagers turned around to see an entire audience staring at them.

99999

_January 30, Tenth Grade_

_TJ, Vince, and Spinelli were all at the pizza parlor on the night of the school talent show. They had been very pleased with their efforts to get people to not go to the talent show and had decided to celebrate by getting pizza and watching a movie. TJ, however, had looked preoccupied all night because Vince had told him that he was planning on asking Spinelli out tonight, and he couldn't quite wrap his mind around what he thought about it, while Vince was preoccupied because he was thinking about his asking Spinelli out and what she would say._

"_What is up with you and Vince?" Spinelli hissed to TJ when Vince got up and went to the bathroom. TJ looked at her hesitantly._

"_Look TJ, I'm worried … you aren't saying anything," Spinelli told him._

"_Nothing bad is going to happen," TJ attempted to smile, "I just have a lot on my mind."_

"_Teej, are you okay?" Spinelli asked, a look of concern on her face, "what is wrong?"_

"_Um ..," at that moment Vince came back from the restroom, not giving TJ a chance to say anything, but Spinelli still looked at him expectantly. As if she was expecting him to say whatever it was with Vince in their presence._

"_Spinelli, there is a question I have to ask you," Vince quickly said as he sat back down. Spinelli tore her eyes off of TJ to turn to Vince._

"_Yes?" she said, politely._

"_Would you like to go to the movies with me, like on an actual date sometime?" Vince rushed. Spinelli didn't answer him immediately. She just looked at him._

_And then, her gaze shifted to TJ, who was trying to avoid her gaze. Spinelli sighed and then turned back to Vince._

"_Sure, Vince, that sounds great," she replied, giving him a smile. TJ sharply looked up from the floor his gaze had been fixed on, but now it was Spinelli who would not distinctly meet his eye._

"_So, Vince huh?" TJ asked later as Spinelli and him were walking home. Vince had gone in the opposite direction, promising to call Spinelli tomorrow to make plans for the movie._

"_Yeah," Spinelli smiled, somewhat preoccupied, "is that why the two of you weren't talking earlier?"_

"_He was nervous," TJ shrugged, "I figured my talking would make him even more nervous."_

"_Oh," Spinelli sighed, "he's a good guy."_

"_Yeah," TJ said, awkwardly._

"_Teej," Spinelli started to say, but then stopped, "I guess we need to find you a girl now."_

_TJ knew what she had been thinking. Or at least he hoped he knew what she had been thinking. But, Vince had liked Spinelli for so long and he would take care of her. TJ knew it. And if it made her happy, well, then he was happy for her. He only liked Spinelli as a friend anyway._

_99999_

"Michael Blumberg?" a voice spoke up as Mikey was getting ready to leave the auditorium. After Lawson, Gretchen, Gus, and Mikey had gotten soda pop spilled on them and taken to the office to discuss it, the talent show had pretty much come to an abrupt end. Mikey was just happy that he actually got to sing in such a fun place. He turned around and saw a smiling guy that he didn't know.

"Yes?" he pleasantly asked.

"I saw your performance," the guy said, "and I thought it was absolutely amazing."

"Thank you?" Mikey said, somewhat uncertainly.

"My name is Seth Piersen," the man introduced himself.

"Wait, THE Seth Piersen?" Mikey asked, excitedly, almost jumping up and down, "the big record producer and agent?"

"That's me," the guy smiled, "my son wanted to come to the talent show tonight and invited me to come along. I must say, I wasn't expecting to meet anybody of much promise here tonight, but you managed to impress me."

"Really?" Mikey asked, excited.

"Yes sir," Seth said, "why don't we go out for a cup of coffee and discuss a possible record deal?"

"Hey dad," a boy came up to them, "me and some of my friends are going to go play some chess, is it okay if I leave?"

"Sure Jeff," his dad smiled, giving the boy a quick hug before he left and then turned back to Mikey, "so, what do you say Michael?"

"I am so there," Mikey said enthusiastically.

00000

"_Mikey? What's wrong?" Gus asked his friend as he found him in the music room at school after the talent show was over._

"_No one was there," Mikey said hollowly, "only about twenty people in the audience. All parents of kids performing."_

"_But, you usually have at least the geek squad," Gus protested._

"_Thanks," Mikey said dryly, "nobody came. It was like somebody told them to stay away."_

"_Who would do that?" Gus asked, puzzled._

"_I don't know … it's not like I've done anything to anybody," Mikey shrugged, "poor Mr. Smith though, the talent show is the best part of his entire year."_

_Gus thought for a minute. Mikey was right, he hadn't done anything, he was an easy going person who didn't like to make people mad at him. On the other hand, Gus was pretty much hated by most people in the school, so if he had been in the talent show, he could understand why people would do that. But, who had that much clout in the school and would hate Gus enough to try and get at him through Mikey? And then, suddenly, Gus understood._

"_I hate them," Gus whispered under his breath. It was one thing to pull a trick on him, to make his life miserable. But, to decide to do something to the one person he truly considered a friend? That was taking it too far. And Gus was going to get even. And in a very big way._


	11. Chapter Ten

Disclaimer: I do not own Recess or any of its characters.

Chapter Ten

February 2nd, Tenth Grade

"It was Ashley Spinelli," TJ insisted that Monday as they went into the office to once more discuss the happenings of the talent show on Friday night, "it had to be her."

"You have to believe us," Gus threw in, "who else would hate us that much?"

"Why did she have to get me whenever it's you three she hates?" Lawson mumbled to himself. Gus, Gretchen, TJ, and the principal all rolled their eyes at Lawson.

"Look, I believe you," the principal said, "or I want to. Why don't we go back to the auditorium and I'll call Ashley from class and we'll discuss it then?"

"Fine," the four students begrudgingly allowed, stepping out of the office while the principal called Spinelli out of class.

"There is no way she's going to get out of being blamed for this one," TJ laughed, "she is going to get what she deserves."

"It is odd, though," Gretchen said thoughtfully, "most of the time she brags before she's going to do something."

"Maybe it was because she didn't think that she was going to get caught this time," Gus suggested.

"Maybe it was because she had nothing to do with the implementing of the device that was triggered when you guys tried to walk through the door," Vince said casually as he walked by the group.

"We know she did it!" TJ shouted after him, shaking his head, "wasn't he the one who warned us last year that she hated us and would do something to the gym?"

Before any of them could reply, the principal stepped out of his office, "Okay you four, let's go to the auditorium. Ms. Spinelli is going to meet us there."

A few minutes later, Ashley Spinelli walked into the auditorium, wearing a thoroughly confused look on her face, and then when noticing the popular kids her expression grew even more confused.

"You wanted to see me sir?" she asked, standing on the other side of the principal while the other four glared at her.

"These students seem to believe that you are responsible for them being coated with soda pop at the talent show on Friday night," the principal roughly said.

"Um, sir, no offense, but I actually did not do it and I don't know were they got the impression that I did," Spinelli shrugged.

"Don't lie," TJ snapped at her.

"Ashley Spinelli, can we step this way and talk?" the principal suggested, after they walked off TJ looked at the other three.

"They can't let her off the hook," TJ hissed. Just then, Mr. Smith came into the auditorium and looked at the four teenagers and then the principal talking to Spinelli.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Spinelli is giving the principal her excuse about how she couldn't have been the one who poured soda pop on us," Lawson calmly said.

"She couldn't have been," the teacher said hurriedly, running up to the principal and Spinelli, who were still talking.

"Sir, it couldn't have been her that poured the soda, because she was baby-sitting my daughter that night," Mr. Smith told him. The principal nodded and headed out the door, but then turned to the four teenagers still standing there.

"You four have accused another student of a serious crime," the principal shook his head, "I want to see you in my office now."

They resignedly followed him out the door.

999999

_February 2__nd__, Tenth Grade_

"_What did you three do?" Gus demanded as he approached the three on Monday after the talent show. Mikey was still in a state of depression that nobody had got to see him perform his song._

"_I have no idea what you are talking about," TJ said calmly as himself, Vince and Spinelli all turned to look at Gus, trying their best to look innocent._

"_You guys purposely made sure nobody went to that stupid talent show so that you could get back at me," Gus angrily said._

"_And, where you at the talent show?" Spinelli asked coolly, "Because if you weren't there, do you have much room to talk?"_

"_I may not have been there, but I didn't bribe the whole school to stay at home either," Gus was getting angrier with every passing minute._

"_But, you're his friend, you should have at least been there," Vince pointed out, "do you think he was mad because nobody in the school showed up or do you think maybe he was upset because the one person he really counts as a friend didn't show up?"_

_With these words, Vince, Spinelli, and TJ walked off, leaving an angry Gus behind. Gus leaned against the lockers with a sigh._

"_You know, for once they are right," Gretchen quietly spoke as she joined Gus, "not that it was right of them to bribe the school or anything."_

"_I'm sorry, are you talking to me?" Gus snapped at her. He couldn't take his anger out on the people who had just left and now he really needed someone to take his anger out on._

"_Of course I am," Gretchen rolled her eyes, "and maybe you should be mad at yourself instead of whoever comes along."_

"_For someone who is so smart you sure don't know when to shut up," Gus growled at her, "now get out of here before I decide to get mad."_

"_You people always with the threatening," Gretchen said while shaking her head in amusement, "I'm not scared of you."_

_With these words, Gretchen walked away. Gus watched her go and punched the locker next to him. He knew that Vince, Spinelli, and TJ had one upped him in this little game they were playing and the bad thing was that he didn't know how to retaliate. Not yet anyways. He was going to find a way. But, right now he had to go find Mikey and talk to him about the absolute horrendous thing that had happened Friday night._

_Mikey watched Gus leave the locker area. He knew Gus must be feeling bad now for not going on Friday night, and that he should probably say something to make him feel better. But, he was mad. Not really at Gus for not coming, Gus had told him he wasn't coming and even given him a reason why, no, he was mad at those three people he used to be friends with who had convinced the entire school not to go. He hadn't really figured it out at first, but once he did, he knew he had to do something._

_000000_

"So, my dad is sponsoring Mikey in a singing contract," Jeff finished telling Vince as they were sitting in homeroom, "and he thinks Mikey has great potential to be a star."

"Really?" Vince asked, somewhat excited for his former friend, "that would be great for him because Mikey works so hard on his songs."

"I know," Jeff shrugged, "he's a good artist. I swear, sometimes my dad cares more about the clients he picks up then he does about me. When I asked him if it was alright if I left to go play chess with you guys, he barely noticed I was alive."

"I'm sure it just has to do with how excited he was that he found a new client," Vince assured his friend, "everything will be fine."

And lucky Mikey, he thought. What an amazing opportunity for him to succeed!

9999

"_TJ Detweiler," an angry boy said as he approached TJ at the lunch table, "I want the date you promised me with a cheerleader."_

_All the cheerleaders looked at the kid in disgust while TJ thought of something to say, finally settling on the truth, "Sorry Jeff, none of them would agree to go out with you."_

"_But I gave up spending time with my father to go on a date with one of those cheerleaders!" Jeff protested. TJ just shrugged._

"_Sorry, what am I supposed to do?" TJ nonchalantly replied. Jeff then whipped around and looked at Ashley Spinelli._

"_You're a cheerleader," he stated, when she nodded in agreement, he continued, "I demand you to go out with me."_

"_I …," Spinelli tried to think of some way to say that she didn't want to go out with a guy who had more fun playing chess than watching football or basketball._

"_She can't go out with you because she is my girlfriend," Vince icily said, putting his arm around her. Spinelli looked at him in shock, she had just agreed to go out on a date with him and he was now declaring her his girlfriend. She didn't know she felt about it all together, but anything to get Jeff away would work for her._

"_Exactly what he said," Spinelli declared, not looking at either Jeff or TJ. She just hoped that the mental image she had of TJ's characteristic smirk falling from his face was an inaccurate one. But, as she looked at his face, she realized that she had hoped for nothing, because there he was not smiling. And Spinelli felt awful._


	12. Chapter Eleven

Disclaimer: I do not own Recess or any of its characters.

Chapter Eleven

March 14th, Junior Year

Mikey smiled around at the audience. He couldn't believe a dream like this had come true so quickly. Just a little over a year ago he had signed a recording contract, and now here he was in front of an audience of thousands of peoples, all coming to see him perform. Not to mention the fact that next year, well, next year he got to live his biggest dream ever and finally tour Europe. And not in a gross fashion either, such as taking public buses and trains, but with a tour bus and all the best hotels. And people actually knowing who he was.

"Are you guys ready?" Mikey shouted to the audience. As they applauded him, he basked in the glory of the sound. This was one of the things that he had always wanted for his life. Being able to sing his music in public with people cheering him on, and now he was achieving it.

In fact, the best thing about this concert was that it brought him back to his hometown. Something he wouldn't be able to achieve again for another year, in January of the following year he would be performing here again after his nine month tour in Europe.

"Who is that girl?" Mikey began to sing, strumming on his guitar as his band began to play, "Why do I admire her so? Oh what can I do, oh what can I do?"

00000

TJ laughed as he, Gus, and Gretchen were leaving Mikey's concert. While Mikey's style of music wasn't what TJ was used to, with him being such a popular icon for the kids at the school, the three had decided to get tickets and check out what all the hype was about. And they had to admit, Mikey was good.

"That was an excellent concert," they heard a familiar voice say behind them. They turned around and saw Vince walking with one of his friends towards their car.

"Don't you have to be cool to go to one of these concerts?" TJ casually called out to Vince and a guy he knew to be named Jeff.

"If your dad is the person who discovered him than you can get back stage passes to hang out with Mikey," Jeff said coolly to them.

"Your dad is the one who discovered Mikey?" TJ asked in excitement. When Jeff nodded, TJ smiled.

"Well then, how would you like to get some coffee with us?" Gus invited him, reading the other's minds. If he was good enough to find Mikey, then who else had Jeff's dad found?

"Thanks, but no thanks," Jeff shrugged, "Vince and I are going to go get some pizza."

The two walked off, leaving a stunned group behind. Gus whipped around to face the other two.

"Could you imagine the other two we could meet if we hung out with Jeff?" he demanded.

The other two nodded.

9999

_March 14__th__, Junior Year_

_Mikey looked at his friend Gus, who was still trying to think of a way to overthrow the three who had wronged Mikey. It had been over a year and Gus hadn't come up with anything remotely good. Mikey felt like helping him, but had always adored his role as a peacemaker in the school and did not want that to be jeopardized._

"_Still trying to think of revenge, huh?" a voice spoke up behind him. He whirled around to see Gretchen standing behind him, shaking her head._

"_Yeah," Mike y shrugged, "he's gotten them back a couple of times, he just can't think of anything to topple them off their thrones."_

"_It is very hard to remove somebody from that position. And to try and remove three very key components will prove most difficult for him," Gretchen reminded Mikey, "however, I have seen him suffer this past year and feel that I should offer some of my own expert advise on his ideas and think I will join him in planning."_

"_You what?" Mikey asked, shocked._

"_I believe that the hierarchical system which is currently instilled in our school and most school systems is not the most beneficial or relative to real life," Gretchen shrugged._

_Mikey couldn't help but smile as Gretchen approached Gus, apparently to offer her friendly advise in his revenge against TJ, Vince, and Spinelli. He couldn't help but think that Gretchen and Gus would make an interesting pair to try and overthrow the higher order of the high school._

_99999_

"_Hey babe," Vince kissed Spinelli as he approached her locker. Spinelli smiled at her boyfriend, kissing him on the cheek._

"_Hey," she greeted back, grabbing her book, "Gus was giving me one of those weird looks in math again today."_

"_He's trying to plan our doom," TJ added in as he joined the two. Vince and Spinelli intertwined hands and TJ just smiled at it. It had taken a while to get used to his two best friends going out, but both seemed very happy and that's all he wanted for them._

"_You're going all contemplative again," Spinelli teased him as the three began to walk towards the gym for basketball and cheerleading practice, "hey, Ashley A. wants to know if you'll take her to the dance after the game on Friday."_

"_What do you think I should say?" TJ asked her, curious about what she thought._

"_You need a good date," Spinelli shrugged, "you haven't really dated."_

"_So, is that a yes?" TJ wondered._

"_That's a yes," Spinelli confirmed, "she'll be fun and exactly the kind of date you need."_

"_Look at my girlfriend, the little match maker," Vince laughed as they entered the gymnasium, "why don't you tell Ashley A. TJ said yes while we're getting ready for basketball practice."_

_Spinelli nodded and with a quick kiss and a bye babe was joining her cheerleaders while TJ and Vince ran towards the locker room._

_000000_

"Ashley Spinelli," a quiet voice spoke up behind her. She chuckled before turning around and looking at the three people who had tried to get her kicked out of school since that day last year when she hadn't gotten blamed for the soda being spilled on them. Even though she really had nothing to do with it, they refused to believe that. And apparently they were going to make known just how much they didn't believe that again, right now.

"I heard you guys were at the Michael Blumberg concert last night," Spinelli said pleasantly. For her, and she was sure them, Michael Blumberg would always be Mikey, but for the rest of the world, he was known by his full name.

"Where did you hear that from?" Gretchen asked suspiciously, "you weren't there were you?"

"Heck no," Spinelli laughed, "not my musical taste at all. However, Mr. Smith was there and I was baby-sitting his daughter, so he told me about some of the students who were there."

Spinelli had always liked Mr. Smith. He was the only teacher that thought Spinelli could actually be worth something someday. He had helped her out, even trusting her enough to let her baby-sit his kid.

"Oh right, your protector," Gretchen sneered at her. Spinelli flinched at the term, an action that did not go unnoticed by Gus, who filed it away for later use.

"As much as I love your company," Spinelli made a quick comeback, "I really have to go see the principal before my next class starts."

"And then go smoke some cigarettes outside of the building," TJ called after her as she fled the group. He shook his head and turned back to his friends, "man, that was a weird encounter."

"Every encounter with her is weird," Gus reminded him, shaking his head, "she seemed pretty upset about the whole Mr. Smith being her protector thing though."

"Probably because she knows she's the one who turned us into sticky soda messes," Gretchen said darkly as the three began to walk towards the gym for their daily basketball and cheerleading practices.

"The more I see of her, the less I'm convinced it was her that did that," Gus admitted before they entered the gym. When the other two turned to look at him he quickly added, "but I still want to make her pay for whatever inconsequential role she might possibly have in it."

The other two didn't really know how to reply to Gus's statement, so they just shrugged and went on with what they were doing. Gus, on the other hand, couldn't help but think of that flinch on Spinelli's face when mentioning Mr. Smith. He was the only teacher to actually pay attention to her, so wouldn't it be a safe assumption to encourage him as a protector because he had vouched for her many times, and yet she acted as if it was a big deal.

Gus wasn't sure why one little flinch made such a difference to him.

999999

"_So, you're telling me that this plan won't work?" Gus asked, going over his tenth or so plan with Gretchen, who had shot down all of them._

"_Not if you actually want to hurt them," Gretchen smiled, "I mean, it might do short term damage, but in the long term it will be forgotten. And I assume since you are planning on getting them back for the way they treated Mikey then you are planning for long term damage like they have done on him."_

"_Why are you even in school still?" Gus demanded to know, "you could totally be graduated from college by now."_

"_I think that high school is the momentous occasion of one's life experience and while it may not be completely adequate for my intellectual or social needs, I do not want to wait thirty years from now and feel as if I missed out on something," Gretchen shrugged._

"_I guess I just never thought of high school that way," Gus answered, in awe._

"_To you, high school is just a game that you can't wait to get out of," Gretchen pointed out to him, "you want to be the rebel, so you smoke at school, you don't do your homework, and you torture the popular kids."_

"_I do love torturing the popular kids," Gus sighed in content, but then quickly got back to the subject, "which brings me back to, let's figure out how we're going to bring those brats down."_

_99999_

"_Hey TJ," Ashley A. said, somewhat shyly for an Ashley as she approached him after they got done with their respective practices. TJ smiled at her._

"_So, I guess Spinelli told you my answer," he said, somewhat uncertain of what exactly to say. He hadn't really done the whole dating thing before, going on one or two dates with girls that didn't really matter, but not with anyone like Ashley A._

"_Yeah," Ashley gave her dazzling smile, "all the girls really want to go out with you, we always thought you'd end up with Spinelli. And then when she and Vince got together last year, well, we were all holding out for you to ask one of us."_

"_Really?" TJ asked, surprised. He didn't realize so many girls would have liked to go out with him. He knew that he was a pretty popular guy, but that didn't really mean anything because he knew many popular guys who no girls wanted to date them._

"_Sure," Ashley said, taken aback, "you're cute, you're a very good catch."_

"_That is actually quite nice to know," TJ finally smiled, tossing an arm around Ashley A. as they began to walk down the hallway._

_He had never thought of himself as a catch before, and being referred to as one by one of the most popular girls in school was actually an ego booster that TJ knew he needed ever since his two best friends had started going out last year and left him in the dust._


	13. Chapter Twelve

Disclaimer: I do not own Recess or any of its characters.

Chapter Twelve

April 3rd, Junior Year

"Group projects are the worst thing in the world," Gretchen commented as she walked into American History, "Who needs to have a group project about different things in history?"

"Apparently we do," Gus sighed, "And it won't be that bad, it is only groups of two, so I'm sure that we will get paired with people we like."

"Or people we dislike," TJ indicated Vince, who was sitting in the front row desk.

"If we are paired with Vince, he is smart and will be able to help tremendously," Gus stayed positive as the three took their usual seats in the back of the classroom.

"I just hope I'm not paired up with that," Gretchen wrinkled her nose, looking at Vince's friend, Jeff, who was talking animatedly.

"I'm still wanting to make friends with him," Gus sighed, "He seems like he could be a good person to add to our group of friends."

"You know who I think would make a good addition to our group of friends?" TJ asked, looking at the girl who was sitting in the second row, with long blonde hair.

"Please, the only reason you want to add her is because she's good looking. And TJ, maybe you should think about slowing down on the dates, if you go out with her it'll be the fifth girl this month that you've date and kissed and whatever else with," Gretchen rolled her eyes at her friend, "And Gus, the only reason you want to add Jeff is because his dad could help you meet really famous people."

"And?" both boys prompted, obviously not seeing the bad aspect of their behavior.

"I bribed the teacher," Gus whispered to TJ behind Gretchen's back, "You get hot blonde Sheila, I get rich connected Jeff."

"You are one devious mastermind," TJ smiled, giving his friend a high five. Gretchen looked between the two boys suspiciously.

"Are you two talking behind my back about things that I don't ever want to hear about?" Gretchen narrowed her eyes. When both boys nodded, Gretchen rolled her eyes and muttered, "Boys."

"Hello class," the teacher greeted as she walked through the door, "As I am sure most of you are aware, today we will be starting our group projects for this class. I have already paired everybody off, and after I read the pairs, you will get in your groups to discuss the assignment and when you will meet."

"Great," Gretchen muttered under her breath.

"Gretchen Grundler and Vince LaSalle, Gus Griswald and Jeff Piersen, TJ Detweiler and Sheila Murray," as the teacher droned on Gretchen cast a suspicious look at Gus and TJ, who both tried their best to look innocent, as soon as she faced forward again, pretending to pay attention to the teacher, TJ threw Gus a questioning glance behind her back.

"I thought it would be fun," he mouthed, indicating Gretchen and Vince, and then began to laugh, TJ quickly following.

899999

_April 3__rd__, Junior Year_

"_I feel as if we finally have a plan that can succeed," Gretchen announced to Mikey as her and Gus entered the newspaper office that Mikey was now editor of. Mikey looked up from his computer, smiling at his friends._

"_And it only took you about a month," Mikey sarcastically said. Over the last month, Mikey had become increasingly sarcastic. He found it was the only way that he could actually maintain peoples attention for long amounts of time. Case in point, Gus and Gretchen were now giving him their full attention, even if it was just to glare at him._

"_When you hear our plan, you will know that it was well worth waiting for," Gus assured him, ignoring his comment as best he could. Gus knew that Mikey was still hurt about the talent show thing last year, in fact, he was so hurt, he didn't even enter the talent show this year in fear of the same thing happening. He told Gus that he didn't want to deprive students who entered the talent show of getting their full audience and was afraid that TJ and the others might try and pull the same trick again, however, this only made Gus feel worse about the whole situation because he felt as if he should have done something to make sure that wouldn't or couldn't happen again._

"_Are you in your deep mode again?" Gretchen teased him, bringing him out of his train of thought. He looked between the two, who were looking at him expectantly._

"_Am I missing something?" he asked both of them, unsure of what was going on._

"_The first part of the plan," Gretchen said slowly, "you're supposed to tell him the first part of the plan."_

"_Sorry," Gus muttered, opening the folder that Gretchen had given him that carefully detailed out their plan. Gus had tried to explain to her that she didn't need that, but she had decided that it would be better to document what each step of their plan was for future reference and hopefully so they did not get sidetracked along the way._

"_You have a folder?" Mikey raised his eyebrows at Gus, "What is this Operation: Popular No More?"_

"_Gretchen did it," Gus said through gritted teeth, "now, I have to meet Lonny and Rick in a few minutes, so let's get this first step over with. Because we need your help."_

"_I'm listening," Mikey urged him to continue._

"_See, the newspaper plays an important role in several students lives, even if it is not the majority," Gus read from the paper, "So, our first area to bring down the popular kids is with an area were they are already not as popular. In this case, with the nerds, the rebels, and basically anybody who isn't a jock, drama participant who for some odd reason are really popular, or cheerleader."_

_Mikey nodded, understanding that this was actually probably a very good strategy._

_8888_

"Ashley, can't we just talk?" Gus heard somebody say inside a classroom that he thought was empty as he walked by while heading towards the restroom. After this, he heard the familiar voice of one of his classmates.

"Look Mr. Smith, I really just don't want to talk to you right now, okay?" Spinelli voice wafted through the hallway. From the sound of it, Gus could tell she was about to cry. He wondered why she would be crying while talking to her favorite teacher.

"You can call me Greg," Mr. Smith politely said, and then Gus moved out of the way because he could hear the doorknob turning. He quickly turned into the next classroom and watched as Spinelli strode by, a few tears streaming down her face, and Mr. Smith right behind her, trying to stop her.

"That was odd," Gus muttered to himself as he walked back out of the classroom. Mr. Smith had always seemed like a very professional teacher and having him tell a student to call him by his first name seemed somewhat odd. And the whole Spinelli thing was even odder. Spinelli didn't cry. It wasn't in her nature. Gus shook his head and finished walking towards the restroom, knowing he had a lot of things to tell the others.

9999

Ashley Spinelli walked out of the school building about three hours before school was over. She had decided that she didn't care anymore. School was not right for her anyways, she didn't care about education, she wasn't planning on going to college, and she didn't really like to make friends. So, therefore unless she was going on one of her torturing sprees of TJ and the others, she usually skipped school. Today she had actually come to school in the hopes of things becoming better since the last time she came. Instead, she found that things were worse. That people were worse.

Mr. Smith had apparently had the audacity to come and talk to her. After all he put her through, he was still coming to talk to her. To try and get her to talk to him. She had successfully avoided him for the first half of the day, but after lunch it was inevitable considering she walked right by his classroom on her way to fifth period. His classroom that didn't have a class in it during that time.

"Spinelli, you look awful," Rick greeted her as she joined him and Ronny behind the school.

"Shut up," Spinelli groaned, "You don't look too hot yourself."

"School, man," Ronny laughed, handing Spinelli a cigarette, "it is nothing but a big waste of time."

"I agree," Rick mused, "My dad offered me a job at his garage. I could quit school and work there."

"Are you going to take it?" Spinelli asked in surprise. While they always talked about how useless school was, she figured they would half way, sort of stick it out until the end.

"Why not?" Rick asked, shrugging. And that was when Spinelli began to wonder if it was such a good idea for her to be in school day after day.

99999

"_Ashley A. can't stop raving about you," Spinelli reported to her friend as they were sitting down in their American History seats._

"_I'm so happy about that," TJ said, somewhat sarcastically. Spinelli threw him an odd look, but decided not to say anything about it. It was the only class of the day that the two of them were without Vince and it felt nice not to be crowded by her boyfriend and his best friend right now. Instead, she got to spend some alone time with a guy who had been her friend since kindergarten._

"_I don't understand what we need history for," Spinelli complained, "It is dead. And boring. And should be forever banned from schools."_

_TJ laughed, knowing that no matter what he said, Spinelli would feel this way, they had this conversation about once a week._

"_But, seriously," Spinelli quit laughing, and looked at TJ with a serious face, "What are we going to do after we graduate? Are we going to continue to hang out? Are we all going off to separate colleges? Is Vince going to leave college early to play in the NBA?"_

"_That is all in the future," TJ said, looking in awe at the girl, "Why worry about it now? We have at least another year. Things will all work out. Besides, you never know what's going to happen between now and then."_

_9999_

"_And then she started asking me all these questions about what is going to happen after we graduate from high school," TJ shook his head as him and Vince walked home after basketball practice, discussing the conversation TJ had earlier with Spinelli._

"_She asked you about the future?" Vince frowned, "She's never talked to me about the future."_

"_Probably scared that you guys won't be together in the future," TJ nonchalantly answered, "Spinelli doesn't really talk about things like that, so it must have taken a lot out of her to talk to me, and I'm just her friend. Imagine how much will power it is going to take for her to get up enough courage to talk to you."_

"_But, we need to talk about those things," Vince said, frustrated, "Not that I want to talk about what happens after we graduate high school right now or anything. I just think if she talks to anybody about it, it should be me."_

"_And she will," TJ soothed, "Just give her time. Now that she's talked to me, she'll need time to get her bearings."_

"_I guess," Vince said, but doubt filled his voice and thoughts. Vince somehow had a suspicion that the reason Spinelli had gone to TJ first about this wasn't because she thought it would be too hard to talk to Vince about. But, maybe TJ was right, because apparently he happened to have more insight into Spinelli's life than her own boyfriend did._


	14. Chapter Thirteen

Disclaimer: I do not own Recess or any of its characters.

Chapter Thirteen

April 6rd, Junior Year

"I don't know what makes you think you are so much smarter than me," Gretchen snapped at Vince as they worked on their history project over the American Revolution.

"Maybe the fact that since junior high you've been getting C's consistently while I have been getting A's," Vince smirked at her, "or the fact that our junior high principal that I was smarter than you and that was why he awarded me with the valedictorian honor that did not go to you."

"If I was ever as annoying as you when I was smart, someone should have killed me," Gretchen muttered.

"You know what?" Vince snapped at her, "it is your own fault that you are not the center of the academic attention. If your stupid computer didn't tell me I might trip over the sidewalk, I wouldn't have tripped."

"You're the one who decided that you didn't want to be friends with TJ anymore," Gretchen yelled at him, "is that my fault to?"

"No, TJ got such a big ego he couldn't fit through a door anymore," Vince snapped back at her, "And even if I wanted to play basketball, I don't think he would have let me."

"Vince, don't you know I felt that way before you hurt yourself?" Gretchen sighed, sitting back down, "you guys were always playing basketball, always leaving me out. I know how you feel."

"And yet you still insist on treating me like dirt," Vince shook his head, "is it because I'm ugly?"

"You aren't ug …," Gretchen started, but was cut off by Vince.

"Don't tell me that," Vince snapped at her, "I see people look at me and laugh. And I realize it is because I have a huge scar running across my face. I understand why people like you make fun of me. I would make fun of me if I was in your position."

"I'm envious," Gretchen simply stated.

"What?" Vince asked, bewildered.

"I'm envious," Gretchen sighed, "I mean, that's why I treat you like dirt. You can do anything you want. You were the best basketball player and athlete in grade school, then one day you decided you wanted to be smart, and all of a sudden you get to be smarter than me. If you wanted to you could pick up a basketball and probably play better than most of the team in a week."

"You shouldn't be envious of me," Vince said, but with a small smile playing at his lips, "The only reason I ever got to be as smart as you was because I had no life. I quit hanging out with anybody, I was on my own."

"You have friends," Gretchen pointed out, "Friends that are probably better for you than we ever were."

"You guys were great friends," Vince protested, but a part of him knew that Gretchen was right. His friends now were better than she or any of the others could possibly have known.

99999

_April 6__th__, Junior Year_

"_Look at the newspaper article," Vince practically shoved it under TJ's face. TJ glanced at it, but then did a double take._

"_How The Popular Kids Are Wrong," TJ read the heading with amusement, "Does it really matter, only geeks read the paper anyways."_

"_Do you know were we get some of our biggest support from?" Vince demanded of TJ, "it is from the nerds who worship the ground we walk on."_

"_Will you relax?" TJ shook him, "It will be fine. We already know that it was Gus and Mikey that did this. We can take them."_

"_Except that Gretchen is also involved," Spinelli stepped up to the two also, Ashley A. close behind and TJ and Vince swung their arms around their girls, "we've seen her with Gus and Mikey the last couple of days."_

"_We can take her down too," TJ reassured them._

"_Aren't you so cute when you are being optimistic?" Ashley A. giggled, kissing TJ on the cheek._

"_Just plain adorable," TJ grinned. Vince and Spinelli made fake gagging noises to bring the two out of it._

"_Anyways, the point is this means that Gus and now Gretchen have a plan," Vince reminded TJ, who just shrugged again._

"_We'll be fine," he stated, "It's not like they can beat us by that much. After all, we have more influence in this school than they realize. And I already have a plan."_

_00000_

"_But sir, this is bad journalism," TJ said winningly to the principal as he was talking to him later, "You don't want our school to be the one without the editor checking his facts do you?"_

_The principal carefully considered TJ for a moment before saying, "You are right about that, but I just can't fire Michael Blumberg as editor."_

"_He is degrading our name," TJ said, frustrated, "I have not even spoken to Mikey since last year."_

"_That is true," the principal continued to frown. TJ knew he was causing him to cave. He just had to come up with a couple more things to say._

"_Not only is that not having proper facts, but it is also slander," TJ finally came up with, "Are you going to allow the person who slandered other students to still be on the paper? Imagine what kind of bad influence that could have in the rest of the paper."_

"_You are right Mr. Detweiler," the principal finally caved, "I will talk to him about it. Now, you better get on to class."_

_TJ left the classroom and ran into Vince and Spinelli, who were both waiting for him outside._

"_How did it go?" Spinelli asked, looking nervous. TJ flashed her a grin._

"_It went extremely well," he answered, "he totally bought it. By this time tomorrow, Mikey Blumberg will no longer be editor of our school paper."_

"_And that will teach him to mess with us," Vince said happily as the three began to walk off._

_00000_

"Look Gus, why don't we try something new?" Jeff unhappily sighed as he and Gus were working on their projects, "I'll do all the work while you go and play video games or whatever it is you do."

"Why are you trying to get rid of me?" Gus demanded to know.

"Because you are driving me crazy," Jeff retorted, "You aren't very smart, you haven't even tried to help that much. All you care about is my dad and how hopefully he can get you tickets to meet whatever band you want to meet."

"That is not true," Gus pretended to be shocked. Jeff shook his head at him.

"You should really think of a better lie," Jeff sighed, "It's not as big of a deal as you think it is. We can just get through this project and never have to see each other again."

"But, Jeff … I didn't mean …," Gus started, but Jeff had finally had enough and even though he was in a library he stood up, looking very angry at Gus.

"I'm not as stupid as you apparently think I am," he shouted, "All anybody ever cares about is my dad. And all my dad cares about is that stupid Mikey kid."

Before Gus could say another word, Jeff stormed out. Gus shook his head and gathered up his books to leave the library when he noticed Spinelli walking out of the library also. It struck him as odd that Spinelli would be going to the library considering that she never spent anytime doing school work.

"Spinelli?" he timidly asked as he followed her. She spun around with a sigh.

"What?" she asked, "here to tell me that I smell bad and sooner or later you will get me kicked out of this school for pouring soda pop on you, which I didn't do."

"No, it's just, why are you in the library?" he asked curiously. This caused her to laugh.

"Let's just say it is because I needed the reading material," Spinelli shook her head, "You have gotten mighty nosy."

"Sorry," Gus shook his head, "but, really, you in a library?"

"Stranger things have happened," Spinelli shrugged, "Such as TJ being in the library with a different girl every day. You know, not studying."

Gus had no response for this so he watched as Spinelli walked away, still laughing to herself, but not leaving the library. He came out of the library and ran right into Mr. Smith, who seemed to be pacing back and forth in front of the library.

"Mr. Smith, what are you doing here?" he asked in surprise.

"Oh, you know, just waiting to meet someone here," he said nervously, "Got to get some stuff done though, so hope they show soon."

As Gus walked away he couldn't help but think how weird it was for Spinelli to be in the library and Mr. Smith to be pacing outside of it.

0000

"_I got kicked off of the paper because of your stupid plan," Mikey roared to Gus and Gretchen after school as he trounced into Gus's room. The two looked up, shocked._

"_That wasn't supposed to happen," Gretchen tried to sooth him, "What did happen?"_

"_The principal called me in and told me because of my use of improper facts and slander I was going to be taken off of the school paper," Mikey flopped into a chair, "and then he said that they were going to issue a retraction tomorrow of my statement's. So whatever you guys were planning on achieving, it didn't work."_

_Gus and Gretchen looked at each other before both simply saying, "TJ."_

"_I don't care if it was TJ," Mikey grumbled, "I just lost my newspaper job."_

"_It will be fine," Gus shrugged, "We will find some other writing assignment for you to do."_

"_You don't understand," Mikey complained, "you guys just walked in and expected me to do whatever you want. So, I did it. And now, now I lost the job that I tried so hard for. Thanks a lot you guys."_

"_Mikey, we didn't mean for that to happen," Gus protested, "I'm sorry."_

"_Well, you should be," Mikey sighed, "journalism was going to be my entire career. And now look were that got me."_

"_We'll find a way to work it out," Gretchen promised, "We'll just add it to the plan."_

"_Forget the plan!" Mikey said, exasperated, "that plan sucks."_

"_He seemed very upset," Gus said after Mikey stomped out of the room. Gretchen turned to glare at him._

"_I hope he is okay," Gretchen stated, "such things like these can seriously hurt someone's emotional stability. Especially considering what he went through last year with the talent show."_

"_Are you saying it is my fault?" Gus asked. Gretchen looked at him, taken aback._

"_I never said anything about anything being your fault," she pointed out, "I think you just feel guilty because you know to a certain extent it is your fault."_

"_Of course I think it is my fault," Gus rolled his eyes, "first the talent show, now this. What's going to happen next? He's going to keep having bad things happen to him because of me."_

"_Maybe you should think more about him than yourself," Gretchen told him coolly, "and how maybe you could help him instead of trying to bring down the popular kids."_

"_And yet you are here plotting with me," Gus said in a mockingly shocked tone. When Gretchen didn't answer he continued, "And you were the one who tried to reassure him that we would add it to the plan. That's not reassuring."_

"_It is both of our fault's," Gretchen muttered. Gus nodded his head._

"_This is going to have to be bigger or end isn't it?" Gus asked. Gretchen just nodded._

_Their lives had suddenly gotten much more complicated than they had been just a half hour ago. And it was not going to help things to end well._


	15. Chapter Fourteen

Disclaimer: I do not own Recess or any of its characters.

Chapter Fourteen

September 25th, Senior Year

Michael Blumberg finished singing his new song for a new record set to come out in March of next year. He was currently in Europe, touring and singing his heart out. He had decided that there was nothing better than being in front of a completely sold out building and belting out lyrics and playing the guitar on songs he had actually written. The only bad thing was his agent, Sean Piersen, wanted him to use some songs that he had not written and Michael had taken great privilege in the fact that he had actually written all of his songs.

"Still thinking about the songs?" Seth asked him as he stepped out of the recording box.

"I just don't think I can do it," Mikey complained out loud. He knew that Seth had a son and wife at home, but he still seemed to want to come on tour with Mikey and was spending most of the nine months in Europe with him. Something that Michael found odd, but was not willing to argue about.

"That is fine," Seth waved off, even though Michael could tell he was a bit annoyed, "it is your songs. And the people love them."

Michael smiled. The people did love him. They saw him as an idol. A great guy. Someone to be like someday. And Michael really liked that. It was good to be a star.

00000

"I can't believe that Gretchen is hanging out with him," TJ said disgustedly as he and Gus stood in the line for ice cream. Gretchen had said she would meet them there; she was going to go over some math homework with Vince. TJ could not help but notice that Gretchen was spending a lot more time with Vince this year than ever before. She kept saying it was for homework, but TJ knew better.

"So?" Gus asked resignedly. All this year he had been hearing TJ complain about Gretchen and Vince. He had bigger worries on his mind. First, that Jeff kid. He seemed thoroughly depressed last year whenever they had done their project together and now he had heard that his father went on tour with Mikey in Europe for most of the nine months. And then there was Spinelli. Something about the way her and Mr. Smith had been acting kept bugging him. He just couldn't quite figure out what it was though.

Suddenly, a girl walked by with long, red hair and TJ grinned, "I'll be back."  
Gus shook his head as his friend went to go hit on the girl. No doubt he would get her phone number. This was about the fifth girl TJ had gone after this month. If Gus didn't know any better, he would have thought that TJ was chasing after all of these girls because he was trying to make up for someone he didn't have and wanted.

00000

_September 25th, Senior Year_

_Mikey Blumberg finished singing his song as he sat on his bed in his room. It was his senior year of high school and nothing was going as planned. He had no extra-curricular activities after being fired from the school paper. His friendship with Gus was on the line because Mikey just couldn't bring himself to forgive him. And all the songs Mikey had written? They were useless. Mikey was useless._

_The only consolation Mikey took these days was the fact that they were now in their senior year of high school. He would be graduating in May. Who needs classmates when you only have a year left with them anyways? It wasn't like they actually appreciated him anyways._

_Then a sudden inspiration hit Mikey and he ran downstairs and found a pan and a lighter. He slowly went back upstairs and set the pan on the floor and then started a fire in it. Slowly, he got the folder were he kept all of his music that he had written and piece by piece threw it in the fire. As he watched each one go up in the flames, he couldn't help but think that those were his dreams and aspirations going with them._

_00000_

_Vince looked at his girlfriend, who was working intently on showing a cheer to the new cheerleaders. With him as captain of the basketball team and her being named head cheerleader they were leading a life that seemed fantastic. The two most popular kids in school going out. Yet, something about it still seemed to bug Vince. It was like Spinelli was there, but like she really wasn't there. And Vince was unsure how to react to this feeling of isolation._

_Spinelli could feel her boyfriend's eyes on her. She turned around and gave him a smile. If somebody had told her in grade school that she was going to end up as head cheerleader and dating Vince, she would have laughed. Because she hated cheerleading, and she had a big crush on TJ. As she thought this, Spinelli's eyes darted to where TJ usually was, but he had skipped out on school today. Spinelli was sure he was with Ashley because she also happened to not be at cheerleading practice. But, while thinking this, Spinelli couldn't help but feel a little jealous._

"_Hey, do you want to go get ice cream after practice?" Vince asked Spinelli as he approached her, "TJ just text messaged me and said him and Ashley were going to be there."_

_Vince rolled his eyes and Spinelli knew exactly what he was thinking. Who would give up a day of basketball practice to go out on a date? Spinelli decided that maybe that was what her problem was. Vince seemed to care more about basketball than her. It wasn't because she really liked TJ, she just liked the fact that he actually made time for her. That was all. She was sure of it._

_00000_

Gretchen laughed at the look on Vince's face as he read her homework assignment. She knew that she had done well on it. Gretchen had actually looked over it four times before letting Vince read it. She couldn't help but think since reconnecting with Vince somewhat, that she had found something she thought she had lost a long time ago when Vince had won eighth grade valedictorian. Now she was happy to share how much Vince had helped her by allowing him to read over her homework.

Vince smiled as he and Gretchen laughed. At the end of last year he had thought about how his friends now were better than his friends were when he was in grade school. But, after the summer he realized that he and Gretchen were more alike than he had given credit to. And now they were working on their friendship in hopes to improve their lives.

"You really are very intelligent," Vince complimented Gretchen as he handed her back the paper. Gretchen gave him a small, shy smile. She did not know quite how to react to the compliment given Vince's status as the most intelligent kid in school.

"So I'm told," Gretchen said wryly, "but, you know what? You were always more intelligent than me. It was just a matter of applying yourself."

"How does TJ feel about this new friendship?" Vince curiously asked Gretchen, who shrugged.

"You know what?" Gretchen laughed, "I don't really care all that much what he thinks."

00000

Ashley Spinelli decided she was going to quit school. She wasn't learning anything anyways. All of her friends had quit and she spent most of her time cutting class and smoking behind the school. So why go at all? She didn't really need the diploma considering that with her luck she would make nothing out of herself. It was a family curse. A family curse that she was okay with. She would rather work in an auto shop for the rest of her life than go to college and spend four more years in school, an institution which she hated.

Besides, with quitting school she could get away from the odd relationship she had with Mr. Smith. Not that they had a relationship. She made sure of that. One thing Ashley Spinelli did not want to be accused of was sleeping with or dating a teacher. He had always been the one to stick up for her, so Spinelli had no problem admitting she had a small crush on the guy. And decided it would be better for her to quit now before she acted on that crush.

"Spinelli, are you going to actually work today?" her boss yelled from his office. Spinelli jumped, suddenly remembering that she had quit working on the car when getting lost in her thought.

"Sorry sir," she yelled back, grabbing the screwdriver and continuing work. This was the way she wanted to live her life. She was sure of it.

00000

_Gus and Gretchen walked into the ice cream parlor. They hadn't had a chance to talk to Mikey yet this year. He never seemed to be in school. Or if he was he seemed to be avoiding them. And Gus didn't know how he could make Mikey realize that he was sorry. Gus needed Mikey as a friend. Without him this year, so far he had skipped all but one class a day and just usually smoked in the boy's room. Mikey helped to stabilize him._

_Gretchen was not really friends with either of the boys, but she felt bad about what she had done to Mikey, and knew she needed to come up with a plan to make the two friends again. She was kind of glad for a distraction from the fact that after this year she would be going off to college and she was having a hard time deciding which Ivy League college to go to. Harvard was an obvious choice, but maybe Yale would be nicer …_

"_Gretchen, are you still alive?" Gus asked curiously as he ordered ice cream. Gretchen jumped in the air and then laughed nervously._

"_Of course," she said, "I think the best way to reach out to Mikey is to bombard him when he least expects it. He can't be filling good about himself right now and the only thing that could possibly help is a good friend. Even if it is a friend who has done things wrong."_

_Gus knew she was talking about him, and he knew he had a lot to apologize for._

_99999_

_TJ Detweiler sighed as his girlfriend went to the bathroom. They were eating ice cream, well, he was, she did not want to ruin her figure. She was annoying. He couldn't stand her, and he had asked her to skip cheerleading practice today so he could break up with her. And then he had pretty much decided that he could stay with her for the rest of his life. Who needed to be happy, right? He couldn't hurt her feelings, not now. She was so excited about their relationship. Yet, every time he called her Ashley he thought about what it would be like to call Spinelli, Ashley and then kiss her. It was driving him crazy._

"_Deep in thought again?" Ashley mused as she came back to the table, TJ just sighed. That was another thing annoying about Ashley, she probably did not even know what a deep thought was._

"_Always am," he tried his best to sound cheerful. He had decided that the only reason he kept thinking of Spinelli was because he wanted what his two best friends had. They were meant for each other and he could never get in the way of that. And he wouldn't want to because he wasn't really in love with Spinelli._

_And now he was going to spend the rest of his life with an Ashley who he wanted to strangle every time she talked._


	16. Chapter Fifteen

Disclaimer: I do not own Recess or any of its characters.

Chapter Fifteen

October 5th, Senior Year

"I heard that Spinelli was dropping out of school," TJ said flippantly to Gus. Gus looked at him in surprise.

"Really?" Gus asked, "That's weird."

"That just means we don't have to try and get her kicked out," TJ shrugged, "Are you going to the gym during study hall?"

"No," Gus responded, deep in thought, "I think I'll go to the library instead. Try and get some reading done."

TJ glanced at him oddly, but then shrugged it off, "I guess whatever you want to do."

Gus quickly walked out of math class when the bell rang. He didn't really want to go to the library during study hall, he wanted to find Spinelli. He finally decided that now was a good time to approach her about this whole Mr. Smith thing. He hadn't really figured out what was going on, but he had a strong feeling that part of her decision to drop out of school was because of whatever was going on with Mr. Smith. He couldn't tell TJ that he was going to do this, because he knew TJ was already upset because his dictatorship was questioned by Gretchen for hanging out with Vince. And if Gus actually tried to communicate with Spinelli, well, TJ would go off.

"Gus Griswald, what are you doing back here?" Spinelli asked in surprise as Gus exited through the back of the school to find Spinelli right where he assumed she would be … against the wall smoking.

"I came to talk to you," he plainly stated.

"Why would you want to talk to me?" Spinelli raised an eyebrow at her old friend.

"I heard you're quitting school," Gus sighed.

"Oh," Spinelli laughed, "Is this one of those efforts to use the slogan, 'be cool, stay in school'."

"Spinelli ..," Gus hesitantly started, but then decided to plunge right in, "What is going on between you and Mr. Smith?"

"Well, let me see," Spinelli said, and Gus knew by the tone of her voice that she was not going to tell him anything, "I baby-sat his daughter a couple of times. He kept me from getting suspended. I would say we have a teacher-student relationship."

"Look, I know there is something more there than that," Gus pushed her. Spinelli just smirked.

"Is this the point were I am supposed to break down and cry and tell you how much of an awful person he is?" Spinelli coldly asked him, "Because, if it is, I'm not going to do it. Sure, he might have been a little friendlier than necessary at points in time. But, I'm a big girl and I can handle it."

"By dropping out of school?" Gus sarcastically asked her.

"This conversation is over," Spinelli simply told him, flicking her cigarette into the bushes and heading towards the school building before turning back and looking at Gus, "And if that is what it takes to handle it, then yes, that is what I am doing."

99999

_October 5__th__, Senior Year_

"_Mikey, will you just listen to me?" Gus complained, "All I want to do is say I'm sorry."_

"_Again?" Mikey coldly asked his friend, "You've already said it many times."_

"_And you still haven't forgiven me," Gus sighed, "What can I do to make you forgive me?"_

"_Actually mean it," Mikey shouted at his friend, "Unlike you, I had a future career. And I risked it all because you were my friend. And now I realize that was a very stupid thing to do."_

"_I know," Gus informed him, "I know that you had a bright future and that I ruined it not only once, but twice. Even if one of the times was indirectly, however, I'm sorry about what happened between us. Even if you don't seem to be."_

"_Of course I'm sorry about it," Mikey rolled his eyes, "It is just … I can't deal with this kind of thing everyday. We are almost done with school, and after that, well, I'm never looking back."_

_With those words, Mikey walked away from his friend. Gus couldn't help but notice that his friend seemed depressed. And Gus knew it must be all his fault. If he wasn't so set on getting back at TJ and the others for what they had done to his friend, he wouldn't have hurt his friend even more. There had to be some way for him to make it up to Mikey. He just had to find it._

_9999_

"_And the fifth pair for the family project is Ashley Spinelli and TJ Detweiler," the teacher announced. Vince looked back and forth between his girlfriend and his best friend as they made their way up to be married by the teacher for their "Life Lessons" class. Vince was just a little disappointed that his best friend and girlfriend had ended up together while he had ended up with TJ's girlfriend, the most annoying person to ever go to the school. He knew how TJ felt about her, yet TJ refused to break up with her. Vince wasn't sure why he had such difficulty in doing this, if Spinelli was as annoying as Ashley, he would dump her in a flash. Maybe Vince just needed to find TJ another girl. _

_Spinelli and TJ came back to their seats, laughing. Vince smiled at both of them, knowing this was only a class assignment._

"_You know hubby, we should celebrate our union with some ice cream after school," Spinelli winked at TJ._

"_I agree," TJ laughed, "if your boyfriend and my girlfriend will agree to it. Man, we have one weird marriage."_

"_Especially considering that those two are married too," Spinelli laughed as she pointed at Vince and Ashley, "Oh man, I love class projects."_

_Ashley looked over at her boyfriend and couldn't help but think that he never laughed like that with her. She had a sense that she was missing something between TJ and Spinelli._

_00000_

"And finally our last pair for the family project is Gretchen Grundler and Vince LaSalle," the teacher called. TJ Detweiler could not help but be annoyed by the fact that Gretchen ended up with Vince in another school project. If they had been friends after the first one, they might well end up dating after this one. And he didn't know if he could take it if one of his best friends ended up dating a nerd. He might have to knock her down a rung, and he knew he didn't want to do that.

Gretchen and Vince walked up to the front to officially be "married" for their "Life Lessons" class. Gretchen found TJ's face amusing. She knew in part it was because she had gotten partnered up with Vince, but she also knew it was because TJ had gotten partnered up with the ugliest girl in school so there was no way he would possibly hit on her.

"TJ looks angry," Vince laughed as he glanced at his ex-best friend. TJ was still glaring at the pair.

"Oh, you know, he doesn't like teenage marriage," Gretchen laughed also as they sat back down, "so, what do you say we celebrate this marriage by having pizza tonight?"

"Sounds romantic," Vince thought about it, "And I'm so there. As long as we can get sausage."

"Husbands, always so picky," Gretchen sighed, grinning at her friend, "Just so picky."

Vince just shook his head.

9999

Michael Blumberg signed another autograph and looked at the line behind the person, which still was out of the store. He let out a heavy sigh. He had always imagined that if he was famous he would be a nice famous person, but after two hours of signing autographs he realized what made people so cranky. He just wanted to go get some food, soak in the tub for a couple of hours, and perform at his next concert.

"Michael, I am your biggest fan," the next girl gushed with an English accent as she stepped up to the table. Michael just smiled, even though he had heard that about a thousand times before, this girl was actually cute. Maybe this wasn't so bad after all.

"Are you coming to the concert?" Michael asked her as he began to sign her autograph.

"Yes sir, my best friend and I are so excited about actually seeing you live," the girl excitedly said.

"Well, then you should definitely come backstage afterwards," Michael gave the girl a wink before digging into his pocket and finding passes to give her and handed them to her along with her autograph, "see you then."

Michael could practically hear the girl squeal as she ran from the room. He laughed at the girl's enthusiasm. He swiftly glanced at the wall clock. Only another hour to go before he had to get ready for the concert. One more hour. He knew he could make it through.

9999

_Gretchen watched as Spinelli, TJ, and Vince walked out of their classroom at the far end of the hall. She had decided a few days ago that she was done with Mikey and Gus. But, in her pursuit to overthrow the popular crowd, she had lost a good deal of the friends she had made in the last few years who wanted nothing to do with it. So, here she was, all alone. That feeling that she used to get whenever she was being left out came over her again. Would she ever belong anywhere? _

_Maybe it was time for her to move on. She knew she could have already finished college by now if she had really wanted to, but like she had told Gus last year, she had always wanted the high school experience. Except, the high school experience did not seem as fun as it once had. All she ever did was read and do homework. It wasn't much._

_Not that she wanted to be like the others, like Spinelli or the Ashley's. She couldn't be a cheerleader. It was an absurd idea. Her dancing around as if she owned the place? Actually wearing those clothes? That wasn't for her. In fact, she had always thought it shouldn't be for anybody. Cheerleading, was it really necessary?_

_But there had to be something she could do to make friends and keep them and maybe actually enjoy the only semester left of her high school career. It couldn't be that hard, could it?_

_0000_

_Spinelli looked around the arcade and saw her boyfriend and "husband" playing a game on the newest machine. She shook her head as she walked over to them._

"_Not only do I lose one guy to these stupid machines, but I lose two," she shook her head in mock sadness, "I think I have to go home and cry now."_

"_Quit being a baby," TJ lightly scolded her, "go get me some grub."_

"_If that is what our relationship is going to be like, I'm leaving you," Spinelli informed him, laughingly as Vince and TJ quit the game and Vince grabbed her hand, "I might just have to settle for Vince."_

"_I personally think I'm a much better catch," Vince joined in the joke, even though he felt like it was a bad idea for this joke to carry on much farther. He was already weary of the friendship his two best friends had._

"_Possibly … more handsome, more athletic, definitely smarter," Spinelli assessed, "but, TJ does have the sense of humor thing down. However, you are more muscular. And I like my guy to have muscles."_

"_Then you should definitely not go with TJ," Vince joked as they looked at TJ, who really didn't have very many muscles._

"_Thanks guys," TJ pretended to pout, "Apparently I have nothing going for me."_

"_Sense of humor, great personality, killer smile," Spinelli threw out a couple of traits, "and you know, Vince and I as best friends."_

"_That's a relief," TJ sarcastically said as they exited the arcade._


	17. Chapter Sixteen

Disclaimer: I do not own Recess or any of its characters.

Chapter Sixteen

December 24th, Senior Year

"Shouldn't you be out with your friends?" Gretchen's mom questioned her as she sat down by her daughter on the couch. Gretchen looked up at her mom in surprise.

"I thought I would spend Christmas with you guys," Gretchen shrugged.

"TJ and Gus aren't coming over?" her mom eyed her suspiciously.

"TJ has a date, and Gus is too busy doing something I don't know about," Gretchen answered, turning on the TV to indicate to her mom that the conversation was over, "It's Christmas, don't you want me to be here?"

"Of course we do honey," her mom assured her, "We just think it is odd that the head cheerleader isn't spending time on Christmas Eve with her friends."

Before Gretchen could answer the door bell rang. She hurried to go and answer it. When she opened the door and saw Vince on the other side she grinned.

"Hey, come on in," she said, moving over to let him in, but he stayed where he was.

"I don't need to come in," he assured her, "I just wanted to drop off your Christmas gift."

"You got me a present?" Gretchen asked excitedly as Vince handed her the package and she opened it to reveal a new, higher tech version of the Galileo she had when she was younger.

"You hated this thing," Gretchen looked up confused at Vince, who was tracing the scar on his face as if he was remembering something.

"I didn't hate it, well, I did after I fell I guess I always blamed your Galileo for my down fall," Vince admitted.

"You mean the scar?" Gretchen asked, quietly. Vince nodded, so she continued, "Please, your probably better off now than you were then. You aren't obsessed with popularity anymore. You're just you. And smart. You could be in college right now if you wanted to be."

Vince looked away. They had held lots of debates about the scar on his face and whether or not he was better off without it. He still saw it as a hideous disfiguring mark, something that people seemed to also believe because very few people would actually look him in the eye. He felt ugly.

"You're not ugly," Gretchen echoed his thoughts, surprising him by giving him a hug. Even though they had been rebuilding their friendship, this seemed to be a new link to it, they hadn't really gotten comfortable with physical touch yet. But as she pulled back, Vince knew something was going to happen.

"Gretchen …," he started, but then just smiled as she traced the scar on his face tenderly.

"You are great," she stated, and then leaned in and kissed him. After a moment they pulled apart and grinned at each other, "And once again, you are not ugly."

"You're great too," Vince agreed, "I should probably go home now. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," she smiled, giving him one last hug.

0000000

_December 24__th__, Senior Year_

"_Spinelli, are you and Vince going out tonight?" her mom asked as she came into the living room and sat next to her daughter. Spinelli smiled at her mom._

"_Yeah, he's going to be here in about half an hour and then we're going to a small party one of our friends is holding," Spinelli answered her mom._

"_Will TJ be there?" her mom asked innocently. Spinelli almost cringed. She knew how much her parents liked TJ and had always hoped that she would end up with TJ, but when she had gotten together with Vince they had tried to accept it._

"_Yeah, he and his girlfriend Ashley will be there," Spinelli answered, putting an extra emphasis on the girlfriend part. Her mom looked at her oddly, but didn't say anything else because their doorbell rang. Spinelli hopped up from the couch to go answer it before her mother got a chance._

"_TJ," she stated as she threw open the door to see TJ standing on the other side._

"_Hey, just thought I'd drop off your Christmas gift before I go pick up Ashley," TJ explained, handing Spinelli a box._

"_Thanks," Spinelli said, opening the box to reveal a big stuffed animal._

"_I know you usually aren't big on stuffed animals," TJ started, "But, I thought you might like this one."_

"_It's cute," Spinelli smiled at him, putting the box down inside of her door, "so, what'd you get Ashley?"_

"_Chocolate, stuffed animal, expensive jewelry, her favorite," he said wryly. Spinelli's eyes narrowed._

"_You really don't like her anymore, do you?" Spinelli questioned, "Why are you still going out with her then?"_

"_Because the person I do like I can't have," TJ shook his head. Spinelli stared at him before asking slowly._

"_And who is this person you do like?" Spinelli asked, suddenly feeling sad, knowing that he couldn't possibly be speaking of her._

"_Spinelli …," he started, but stopped. He wasn't quite sure how to approach this. This was his best friend's girlfriend. Nothing could happen between them. He knew it. She knew it. He just had to leave with whatever shred of dignity he had left._

"_Sorry," she stated, now knowing the truth. Her and TJ could never happen. She was dating Vince. This was bad. She had to find a way to get rid of her feelings. And fast._

"_Well, bye," TJ stated, beginning to back off her porch. He stopped one second to look at her, and she looked so sad, "Spinelli ..,"_

"_I know," Spinelli sighed, "Me too."_

_Before either of them could make another move, Vince pulled into the driveway. TJ waited until his best friend came up to the porch._

"_Hey dude, just dropping off Spinelli's gift, I'll see you guys at the party," TJ greeted, and quickly left before Vince could reply._

"_That was odd," Vince frowned, looking at his girlfriend, who just smiled at him._

"_Well, you know how odd TJ can be at times," she shrugged it off, following Vince to his car._

_99999_

Spinelli was just finishing putting a couple of decorations on her Christmas tree when she heard a knock at the door. She knew that it was Christmas Eve and waiting to put up the Christmas tree for this long was kind of sad, but she had kind of hoped her parents would want to help her, but ever since she had dropped out of school they had not been too fond of her. So, with sadness in her step she walked to the door and answered it, to see Gus Griswald standing on the other side.

"What do you want?" she said coldly.

"I want you to tell me what happened with Mr. Smith," Gus said simply, "Because I think he has everything to do with the reason you quit school."

"Do you know?" she asked, amused at his statement, "And what makes you say that?"

"Because, you were always avoiding him, and you even semi-confessed that something happened," Gus told her.

"You do realize that its Christmas Eve and you are bringing this stuff up to me?" Spinelli reminded him.

"I know," he shrugged, "But, I couldn't get enough courage to do it until now."

"On Christmas Eve?" she repeated quirking an eyebrow at him.

"It's a magical holiday," he said wryly, smiling at her.

"Okay, whatever," Spinelli sighed, letting him into the house. Neither of her parents were home, so she figured it wasn't that big of a deal to let him in, "What do you want to know?"

"I just want to know what exactly Mr. Smith did to you?" Gus answered, sitting down on the couch.

"The truth?" Spinelli sighed, and when Gus nodded she gave him a small smile before starting her story, "Well, it was after I had finished baby-sitting his kid, she's really adorable, you know. And I guess I always kind of had a crush on Mr. Smith, I mean, he was young, handsome, and the only person in the school that believed in me."

"That's not ..," Gus began to protest, but Spinelli interrupted.

"If you even think about saying that's not true I won't finish the story," Spinelli warned him, "All you guys wanted was for me to get kicked out of school. And now that I left you're feeling this extreme guilt thing."

"I'm not feeling guilty," Gus protested, "I just feel … okay yeah, guilty. And curious."

"Okay then," Spinelli continued, "Anyways, one night he came back from some date he was on that apparently ended disastrously. I apologized when he told me about it, and he said it was okay. Said he was sorry that there were no girls out there like me his age. I didn't know how to respond to that, so I calmly told him I was going to leave, and then walked out."

"And that's all?" Gus asked, "Because if it is, you shouldn't have dropped out of school because of it. And if it is, you need to turn him in."

"No, that was it," Spinelli quickly said, so quickly that Gus knew she was lying, "Well, Merry Christmas Gus."

"Merry Christmas," Gus muttered back as she shoved him out of her door.

999999

"_Mikey?" Gus asked as he swung open his door to see his old friend standing on the other side of it. Mikey nodded and stepped through the doorframe._

"_I am sorry that I have been acting very unfriendly lately," Mikey stiffly said. _

"_Oh, you call yelling at me about how you want your life back the way it was unfriendly?" Gus asked him sarcastically, "I was going to find a way to get it back buddy. I really was."_

"_You tried harder for our friendship than anything else in the world," Mikey informed him, "But, I've decided that it was not completely your fault that I was so prone to getting everything I loved taken away from me."_

"_And what helped you come to this realization?" Gus asked, in semi-amusement at the seriousness of his friend's voice._

"_The fact that I am to also blame for my own deeds," Mikey shrugged, "I shouldn't have listened to you and Gretchen in the first place."_

"_Merry Christmas Mikey," Gus smiled at him, going back into his house to find a Christmas gift and then handing it to the boy, who smiled at his friend._

"_This is for me?" Mikey questioned, "Why would you get me a Christmas gift?"_

"_Because I still considered you a friend despite your utter lack of interest in being mine," Gus shrugged._

"_Well, I got you a gift to," Mikey admitted, bringing a small envelope out of his pocket, "It's not much."_

_The boys each opened their gifts and smiled at what lay inside._

"_I knew you burned all of them," Gus shrugged his shoulders as Mikey held up the book with all of his songs in them, "So, I figured that I would give you the copies that you gave me."_

"_And you got me a gift card … to 7-11," Gus answered, not really knowing what to make of this gift._

"_So that way you can buy those cigarettes that are death traps with your money," Mikey explained, "Or, you know, have somebody older than you buy beer. Which I know that you do, so don't even pretend."_

"_I think this is why we were always such good friends," Gus laughed._

"_Because we are odd?" Mikey asked._

"_No, because we always know just what the other needs," Gus laughed again, "do you want to come in? A couple of friends are coming over in a little bit and we're having a party."_

"_Okay," Mikey said evenly. Gus looked at him in surprise._

"_Really?" Gus asked._

"_Are you going to take the invitation away now?" Mikey asked him._

"_No, it is just, you usually don't care for drinking," Gus reminded him._

"_But, I'm turning over a new leaf," Mikey shrugged, "You are getting ready to meet the new Mikey Blumberg."_


	18. Chapter Seventeen

Disclaimer: I do not own Recess or any of its characters.

Chapter Seventeen

January 6th, Senior Year

Michael Blumberg was on a plane, flying back towards his home town. He couldn't believe that he was finally going to be back there to perform another concert. It didn't seem that long ago that he had just been performing at the talent show. He kind of missed it, things had been getting a little difficult lately. Like Christmas, for example. He had tried to fly his family out to see him, but they had already made plans to visit his grandma, but since he had a concert the next day, he was unable to join them. What do you do on Christmas when you are all by yourself? When you are in a foreign country and the only people that are with you are people that you are paying to be with you? People that didn't even care about him. Michael was one of those people were he needed to be surrounded by people who cared about him. Who he cared about.

Of course, Sean had stayed behind to help him, which Michael also found really weird. He had his own wife, who judging by the way she was talking to Seth on the phone was not very happy about the whole ordeal. And what about Jeff, his kid? Wouldn't he be upset about it to? Didn't people want to spend Christmas with their families? Not that it mattered, because pretty soon both of them would be home. Michael was beginning to feel like Mikey again, and he knew that it felt good.

00000

TJ Detweiler stared at the girl across the table, who seemed to be making some effort for conversation. He couldn't understand it, but lately something had been bugging him. He felt like he was losing control of his school. He thought, but wasn't sure that something had happened between Gretchen and Vince, and nothing good could come of that. And then Gus had gone on this big adventure to try and bring Spinelli back from whatever hell she happened to be in. That was his two best friends, both gone. They were supposed to rule the school together, not get caught up with the unpopular people.

And that was another thing that had him worried, when did he start getting so mean and uncaring? He would have never considered himself either of those things before, but instead of trying to figure out what was going on with his friends and ex-friends alike to help them, he was selfishly wondering were that put him. He didn't know if he liked this. He didn't even know if he could change this.

"Are you listening at all?" the harsh voice broke through his reverie. TJ smiled at the girl. One of many countless girls that he went out with and dumped. She was no different than the rest. Except she seemed to have some air of intelligence about her. And she wasn't chewing gum while they were waiting for their food, always an added bonus.

"Of course I'm listening," TJ answered, giving her one of his fake smiles, but as soon as she started talking again, his thoughts started drifting again.

000000

_January 6__th__, Senior Year_

_Gretchen Grundler looked down at the letter in her hand, taking a deep breath. It was a letter for a summer internship with a doctor from Colombia's medical institute. The odds were very high that if she had managed to secure this internship, she could also score a spot at Colombia's university for the fall. But, what she wanted more than that was to do the lab work and help this professor with what he needed done. It was her life dream to work in a lab, trying to figure out diseases._

_Slowly, Gretchen opened the letter and was very happy to see what the letter said. Now all she wanted to do was celebrate, the only problem was that she had no one to celebrate it with. All of her friends really wouldn't think it was that big of a deal because they were all getting amazing intern opportunities too, for places like Harvard, Yale, and Stanford. One of them had even gotten one from Oxford. They would just take it as another one of the geniuses off to some Ivy League thing. She needed people that would actually care about it._

_And that was when Gus Griswald and Mikey Blumberg came to her mind._

_000000_

_Vince LaSalle couldn't help but wonder what was going on with his best friend and his girlfriend. Ever since Christmas Eve, they seemed to be avoiding each other. Whenever Spinelli would be over, TJ wouldn't come, and vice versa. Sure, they tried to make nice when around him, but they had obviously been avoiding each other. He couldn't quite figure it out. It wasn't like Spinelli should be mad at TJ for breaking up with Ashley, because they both had known that it was a long time in coming. They had even discussed it. The only thing that sucked about the situation was that Vince still had to work with Ashley on this family project. He wasn't excited about it, and honestly neither was she. All she did was complain the whole time about how TJ had dumped her. It had been about two weeks now and Vince was sick of it._

_And he wanted his girlfriend back. The one who could hang out with his best friend, not the one who was avoiding his best friend like the plague. Vince didn't really know what to do. Maybe he should force them in a room together. Or just ask them both politely to talk it out. That one would probably work better._

_Vince resolved to do his part to reconcile his two friends. But, for right now he needed to get going so he could meet Ashley and they could work on their project. Oh what fun that was going to be, Vince thought sarcastically to himself._

_000000_

Michael quietly stepped out into the airport, letting out a quick breath of relief. There was something about this place that really did make it seem like home sweet home. Sean had wanted him to stay in a hotel, but Michael had refused, knowing that he would want to stay at home. And after arriving here, he knew he did. It was just the right place for him to be. Besides, this way Sean wouldn't have to worry about him so much and he could spend time with his own family. Or at least that was what Michael hoped that he would do with his few days off, instead of trying to figure out what the next best record deal was. Sean worked too much for his own good. Actually, if Michael was really honest with himself he would know that he worked a little too much too. But, he just had to remind himself that that was the price he had to be to be famous.

"Oh my gosh! It's Michael!" he heard shouts behind him. He sighed, knowing that he should have expected it, but kind of hoping it wouldn't happen. He turned around to see a big audience filing in, no doubt wondering whether or not they could have his autograph. He took out a pen and reached for the nearest one.

9999

The ball bounced off of the rim, not quite making it in.

"You know, I thought you had to be better than that to be on the school team," a voice quietly spoke up behind him. TJ turned around to see Jeff standing there, holding his basketball. TJ didn't know what to say, he hadn't spoken to Jeff last year since Gus had done that project with him, and then almost got rid of him immediately.

"You look tired," TJ observed.

"Haven't been sleeping much, my dad's been gone. He's supposed to get back today," Jeff said, quietly.

"Congratulations," TJ smiled at him as Jeff threw him back the ball.

"Not that it matters," Jeff continued, "He'll still spend all of his time with Mikey. Or Michael has he is now known. He treats Michael like the son he always wanted. One that was musically gifted."

"I'm sure your father will make time for you," TJ assured him, throwing the ball back to the hoop, missing once again.

"Probably not," Jeff said, but then snapped out of his trance, "Sorry TJ, got to go."

TJ watched the boy go and shook his head. No matter how many problems he had, that kid seemed to have a lot more. He threw the ball back in the air once more and it swished right through the net.

0000

Mikey was finally home. Free to be Mikey. The airport had taken a lot out of him. He dropped his suitcases in the front hallway and immediately began walking to the kitchen, his favorite room in the whole house. He was hoping his mom had left him some cookies out, just like in the days after class in fourth grade. Yup, it was definitely good to be home.

00000000000000000000

"_Gus? Mikey? Are either of you here?" Gretchen pounded on the door of Gus's house. She knew she heard music, and she assumed it was Gus because it was very hard rock music, not something that Mr. and Mrs. Griswald would listen to at all. She was about to give up and walk away when the door swung open and Gus stood on the other side, waving her inside. She stepped into the house and a strong smell of alcohol seemed to be exuding from somewhere. _

"_Hey Gretchen," Mikey said as he stepped out of the kitchen. Gretchen suddenly had a distinct feeling about where the alcoholic smell was coming from._

"_Are you guys drunk?" she asked, looking at her watch to reveal it was only about eight o'clock on Saturday night._

"_Yeah, we are playing some poker, and drinking some beer," Gus slurred as he headed back towards the kitchen, "You should join us."_

"_Mikey? I thought you didn't drink," Gretchen ignored Gus, turning to her friend, who was sitting down on the couch now._

"_I have turned over a new leaf," Mikey laughed at her, "No more good Mikey, it is all about the bad Mikey now."_

_Gretchen watched the two friends walk back towards the kitchen together, knowing that nothing good could come of Mikey's resolution to change from a good, people-loving Mikey to a bad, poker-playing Mikey. Nothing good could come of it at all._

_99999_

"_And then he just like dumped me, on Christmas," Ashley said to Vince for about the tenth time since he had been there. Vince sighed and looked up at her once again, she had that vacant look in her eyes._

"_I'm sorry, but haven't we already been over this?" Vince hinted._

"_I just don't understand why he would do that," Ashley contemplated, "I think I am a pretty good date."_

"_Until you talk, I'm sure you are," Vince wryly said. Ashley didn't seem to hear his comment though as she went over all the list of reasons why TJ wouldn't want her anymore. She had bad hair, she didn't get picked for head cheerleader, she hadn't worn the right dress on the right date._

"_No offense or anything," Vince finally interrupted, "but those all seem like very shallow reasons to be dumped. Maybe he just dumped you because he didn't want to be with you anymore."_

"_Or maybe because he likes someone else," Ashley fiercely said._

"_Oh geez," Vince rolled his eyes as Ashley started compiling a list of all the people that TJ could possibly prefer over her. He was getting ready to yell at Ashley to concentrate when a sudden thought crossed his mind._

_TJ at Spinelli's on Christmas … breaking up with Ashley in the same day … TJ and Spinelli having lots of inside jokes. Vince knew it couldn't be true. There was no way TJ would ever do that to him. Even with that thought, there was still a nagging sensation in the back of his mind._


	19. Chapter Eighteen

Disclaimer: I do not own Recess or any of its characters.

Author's Note: Sorry it has been so long since the last update. Things have been kind of hectic because my computer crashed and all sorts of fun things. Anyways, hope you all had a good Valentine's Day and enjoy this chapter!

Chapter Eighteen

January 10th, Senior Year

"Gus, Gretchen, we need to talk now," TJ demanded of his two friends, dragging them into an empty classroom, "are we still going to the Michael Blumberg concert together?"

"Of course we are," Gretchen shook her head in amusement, "do you really think that I would abandon you for that?"

"Well, I thought you might like to go with Vince instead," TJ snapped at her, clearly disgruntled by her abandonment as of late for Vince.

"Vince wants to go with his friend Jeff, because he hasn't seen him in a while," Gretchen explained, "besides, I'm not going to always abandon you for Vince, like you do us with every hot blonde that comes along."

TJ ignored her comment and focused on what she had said about Jeff, "Yeah, Jeff did seem to be acting a little weirder than usual when I saw him the other day. Is he all right?"

"What, TJ Detweiler caring for the unpopular kids?" Gus said, mockingly shocked. TJ rolled his eyes at him and Gretchen just decided to answer the question.

"I'm not really sure," she admitted, "he has been acting kind of weird lately. Vince is pretty worried about him. "

"I'm sure he'll be fine," TJ tried to reassure Gus, Gretchen, and himself.

"I hope so, this whole thing with Mikey and his dad is starting to wear on him," Gus frowned. The three shrugged and walked out of the classroom back into the hallway, not wanting to discuss the matter any further.

00000

_January 10__th__, Senior Year_

_"Hey, TJ, can I ask you a question?" Vince said seriously as he and TJ walked down the street to the park to go play some basketball. TJ smiled at his friend and nodded, "There's nothing going on between you and __Spinelli__, right?"_

_TJ looked taken aback by the bluntness of his __friends__ statement and after a second answered, "what makes you think that?"_

_"Because, I was just piecing together some things … like the day you broke up with __Ashley …__ you and Spin's close friendship, and I guess I started to get paranoid," Vince uneasily said._

_"Absolutely nothing is going on between me and __Spinelli__," TJ informed him, "The whole Christmas visit and breaking up with Ashley was not a coincidence, though because after talking to __Spinelli__ I realized that my feelings for Ashley would never be the same as her feelings and therefore, I couldn't be in the relationship anymore."_

_Vince didn't know what to say to his friend's reasoning. He wanted to believe him because TJ had been his best friend since kindergarten, but he was still afraid of what could possibly be going on between the two of them._

_"Look man," TJ could sense his friend's hesitation to believe him, "If you don't believe me, you can talk to your girlfriend about it."_

_"No thanks," Vince replied._

_As the two began to play basketball, TJ wondered why he felt so excited about Ashley __Spinelli__, but was now also feeling awful for his treatment of his best friend._

_888888888_

Spinelli looked around the garage that she had chose to make her home as of late. Her parents did not talk to her, so she spent most of the time at the garage or with her buddies playing poker at their apartment. She knew that it wouldn't be too long before her parents issued her an ultimatum about going back to school. She just knew that she couldn't because of all the things that had happened.

"What are you thinking about?" an inquiring voice asked behind her. She turned around to see Gus Griswald standing there, his car parked behind him.

"What did you do to your car?" Spinelli sighed, looking over his shoulder to see if she could see any kind of permanent damage.

"I need a new fuel pump," Gus sighed, shrugging his shoulders, "This is the mechanic we've been using since I was a little kid, sorry I had to come bug you."

"No, its fine," Spinelli smiled, "Come on in."

"I'm sorry about trying to pry into your personal life," Gus quietly told her as she began to take a look at his car.

"It is not a big deal," Spinelli tried to play off, "your friendship instinct was kicking back in."

"I guess I just didn't want to think that the only reason you could have dropped out of high school was because of a stupid teacher," Gus admitted.

"It was bad," Spinelli whispered to him, feeling her eyes start to go misty as she shivered.

"You don't have to talk about it," Gus informed her.

"No … you were the only one who actually cared to know why I dropped out," Spinelli smiled, "He tried to kiss me once. And when I said no, he didn't take it. But, then I kicked him in the shin and ran off. He tried apologizing. I tried avoiding him. Quitting school was the easiest way."

Gus Griswald didn't know what to say, so instead he pulled his former friend into a hug, her greasiness and all.

99999

_"TJ?"__Spinelli__ questioned as she opened her door to see TJ on the other side of it. TJ gave her a small smile before she invited him in._

_"Hey," he said, "I just got done playing basketball with Vince."_

_"Who won?" __Spinelli__ made light conversation._

_"Who do you think won?" TJ shot back at her, "but, that's not what I am here about. I'm here to say that whatever was happening between us, if there was something happening between us, it has to stop now."_

_"What?" __Spinelli__ asked, a little taken aback by his abruptness. They had done such a good job avoiding each other since Christmas she thought that it was already decided that they weren't going to mention it._

_"It has to stop … Vince asked me if anything was going on today. And he is my best friend and I will not hurt him, not even for you," TJ blurted out._

_"Okay," __Spinelli__ evenly said._

_"Okay? That's all you have to say after I tell you that we can't be together," TJ asked, outraged._

_"Yes, because I do not want to hurt Vince anymore than you do," __Spinelli__ quietly said._

_"I really want to kiss you," TJ suddenly said._

_"TJ, that is not playing it cool," __Spinelli__ warned him._

_"I know," he muttered, darkly. But, then a second later he grabbed __Spinelli__ and kissed her. __Spinelli__ sank into the kiss._

_"This is so not good," __Spinelli__ muttered as she pulled away._

_"But it is definitely so right," TJ muttered back as the two stared at each other, not knowing what to do next._

999999

"Jeff, you really have to cheer up," Vince informed his friend as they played video games at Jeff's house. Jeff looked up to see Vince kicking his butt at basketball.

"Sorry, just this whole thing with my dad has got me super occupied," Jeff shook his head, "Do you know where he is right now? With Mikey, helping him do a quick run around of the building for his concert two days from now."

"You just need to relax," Vince calmly told his friend, "Your dad is still your dad. He doesn't like Mikey better, he just wants to make sure he is all ready for his big concert.""And then, he's bringing that stupid Michael kid over for supper tomorrow night," Jeff continued to say, not even paying attention to what Vince had just told him.

"Jeff, snap out of it," Vince waved his hand in front of his friend's face, "You seem obsessed with your father spending all of his time with Mikey."

"I am not obsessed," Jeff protested, "I just don't understand why he can't spend time with me. It is always about Mikey. I hate him."

Vince was silent. He didn't know how to react to his friend's sudden zealousness against his father. Vince had never had that problem because he and his father had always had a fairly steady relationship, but he knew that Jeff's relationship had never been good. And this treating Mikey like he was his son thing might be the end point for Jeff.

999999

_Gus and __Mi__key__ were having a blast skipping school. The two had decided to go to the bar in the next town and have some drinks instead of going to school._

_"Gus, can I tell you something?" __Mikey__ asked seriously, as seriously as he could __considering__ his drunken state._

_"Go ahead," Gus laughed._

_"I hate my life," __Mikey__ admitted. Gus looked at the boy strangely, to which he continued, "__everything__ worth anything was taken away by Vince, TJ, and __Spinelli__. My life is worthless. I am here with you, drinking beer instead of being in school. That's how useless this all has become."_

_"You don't see me complaining, and I'm right here with you," Gus informed him._

_"That's because I don't think you realize how truly pathetic this is yet," __Mikey__ informed him, sobering up a little, "I don't think anybody would miss me."_

_"I'd miss you," Gus insisted, "You are the only real friend I have."_

"_I guess that is something," __Mikey__ mused, before turning to the bartender and asking for another drink. The bartender gave him a look like he knew he was underage, but went ahead and gave him the drink anyways._

_"To a life that is going nowhere," __Mikey__ held his glass up to Gus, who gladly __clinked__ glasses with him._

_"To a nowhere life," Gus congratulated him, "and only one friend."_

_"And only one friend," __Mikey__ agreed, downing his drink, "We have a great time."_

_"We are who we are, we don't have to apologize for that," Gus shrugged his shoulders._

_But, we have to live with it, __Mikey__ thought sadly._

_9999999_

Michael Blumberg finished going over the concert building and then turned to the owner of the building, giving him a smile.

"Thanks for letting me check it out, Brett," he said, "I would have been fine, but you know, we have to check every single building before we perform a concert in it."

"I understand," the guy smiled back at him, before walking off. Michael then turned around to where Sean had been standing a moment ago, but didn't see him.

"This place has always been a disaster," Sean finally spoke up from behind him, amused, "but it will be good for you to come back to were you originally started."

"Um … Sean, I was thinking that I don't have to come over to your house for dinner tomorrow night if your family doesn't want me too," Mikey quickly told his agent.

"What?" Sean asked, taken aback, "Of course they will want you there. Jeff probably can't wait to see his friend again."

Michael didn't have the heart to tell his agent that he and Jeff had never really been friends. Mikey also wondered if there was something he was missing with Sean, he didn't want to spend anytime alone with his family. However, he was always very paternal with Mikey. Maybe Jeff and his relationship was a lot better than it appeared on the surface. That would make sense. Maybe they just didn't like to express their emotions. Michael knew lots of people like that, at least he would find out tomorrow at dinner.

0000000000000000

_Gretchen finished her homework. She had already checked and rechecked her work before deciding to check it for a third time. Things had been weird for her lately. She didn't really have many friends. She had thought that maybe she could count on Gus and __Mikey__ to be her friends, but had recently discovered that she had been wrong in this assumption. At least this way she didn't have to worry about what they were up to and whether or not they were causing a lot of trouble._

_"Honey, don't you want to go and hang out with your friends?" her mom gently asked her as Gretchen walked into the living room._

_"Mom, I'm going to Colombia. I'll make better friends once I get there," Gretchen sighed. She knew that sometimes her parents worried because she put everything into school and didn't really seem to care too much about the rest of the high school experience. She had just never been able to get herself in that mode._

_"__Okay honey," her mom sighed back at her, not wanting to push the subject. Gretchen then ran back to her room. Before rechecking her homework for a fourth time, Gretchen wanted to know if this was all her life was going to be. Worrying about people who had at some point in time been friends, but not really __having friends? All of her smart high school friends would forget her as soon as they started college. Just as her grade school friends had already done._


	20. Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

January 11th, Senior Year

Gus's anger at Mr. Smith kept growing with every passing minute. After he had gotten his car fixed and told Spinelli that everything was going to be okay, a lot, he had gone home and wondered how any decent teacher could even think about doing that to one of their students. Wasn't it enough for him to try and intrude on her rights, but then to try and force it when she said no? It was unethical and he could not imagine himself being angrier than he was now.

"Are you okay?" TJ asked as the two were sitting down waiting for their homeroom to start, "You've been extremely quiet all day. It is kind of creepy."

"TJ, what would you do if you knew that a teacher had done something unforgivable?" Gus suddenly asked his friend.

"Depending on what it was," TJ frowned, "And which teacher it was."

"What are you two talking about?" Gretchen asked as her and Vince joined them. TJ did not acknowledge his former friend's presence, but instead turned to Gretchen.

"Gus thinks a teacher did something unforgivable," TJ explained to her.

"Like what, not give you a passing grade when you didn't do the work?" Gretchen joked with him. Gus didn't respond to her joke because he had just noticed Mr. Smith walking past their door in the hallway. He quickly stood up and began to walk towards the hallway, Gretchen calling after him, "Hey, Gus, class is going to start soon."

"Hey Mr. Smith," Gus called out to the teacher. TJ looked at Gretchen and Vince, wondering if this was the teacher Gus was talking about. A second later, however, they did not have to wonder anymore as Gus punched the teacher in the face.

"Gus Griswald!" another teacher yelled out behind him, "You better get to the principal's office right now."

Gus walked down the hallway with the teacher beside him, a defiant look on his face as Mr. Smith stood in the hallway, a hand cupped over his nose, which was now bleeding from when Gus hit him.

000000

"I can't believe he just took out a teacher," TJ laughed as he sat down at the ice cream shop after school, "The only bad thing is that he's off the basketball team now."

"And he was getting so good," Gretchen agreed with her friend, "Plus, it is always nicer to have someone there early in the morning who will crack jokes on those Saturday practices."

"Like tomorrow," TJ groaned, "That is going to suck."

"I'm sorry, did you say earlier that Gus took out a teacher?" Spinelli asked, she had been passing by whenever TJ had said it, and she now approached the two, wondering if she had heard right.

"What's it to you?" TJ asked suspiciously.

"I was just wondering, which teacher was it?" Spinelli asked, trying to sound as innocent as she could, even though she was pretty sure she already knew which teacher it was.

"Is there something I'm missing?" TJ demanded to know from her, "Since when did you start caring about Gus taking out teachers?"

"Because I thought one of you might have actually turned out to be an okay person," Spinelli rolled her eyes, "But, apparently I was wrong and you will always be the jerks of the school."

Spinelli then walked back to her table, though she was still smiling a little bit. She could not believe that Gus would hit Mr. Smith for her. She knew that he was really angry and upset about the whole thing, but hitting a teacher? That was more of a Spinelli thing than it had ever been a Gus thing.

00000

_January 11__th__, Senior Year_

_"Hey __Spinelli__," TJ said cheerfully as he grabbed __Spinelli__ and pulled her into one of the classrooms that did not get used anymore. __Spinelli__ smiled back at him as he began to wrap his arms arou__nd her waist to give her a kiss, even though the two knew that this was such a bad idea and knew that they were hurting Vince every time they did share a kiss._

_"We need to talk about this," __Spinelli__ whispered, as soon as they broke the kiss, "Vince will be devastated when he finds out."_

_"Well, I have an idea," TJ bit the bottom of his lip, "Why don't we keep it a secret from Vince until we graduate, and then you two can break up because he is going far away to college anyways, and then we can officially start dating then."__"You want me to make him break up with me first?" __Spinelli__ sighed, "I don't think I can do that. I have to tell him."_

_"You have to tell him what? That you love me instead of him? I just told him there was nothing going on between us," TJ objected._

_"I won't tell him that part," __Spinelli__ promised, "I'll just tell him I can't see him anymore. I promise it will all work out."_

_"This is too complicated," it was TJ's turn to sigh._

_"But, it is worth it, isn't it?" __Spinelli__ gave him a small smile._

_0000_

_Vince was walking down the hallway with a couple of his friends, asking them about whether or not they had seen his girlfriend. He was about to shake his head and walk off when Gretchen __Grundler__ spoke up._

_"Are you looking for __Spinelli__?" she innocently asked him, when he nodded, she pointed at an empty classroom, "She walked in there a little bit earlier and I did not see her come out. I don't know what she would do in an empty classroom, but nevertheless, that was where she went."_

_Vince did not even bother to respond to Gretchen's talking and instead walked into the classroom to see if __Spinelli__ was still there. The sight that greeted him, however, was one in which both __Spinelli__ and TJ were there, in a lip lock._

_Vince cleared his throat and the two jumped apart, finally noticing him and looking decidedly guilty. Vince did not say a word, but instead turned around and walked out of the room. Gretchen watched him curiously as a second later __Spinelli__ and TJ burst out of the room._

_"Vince, it wasn't what it looked like," TJ tried to persuade his friend, who just turned and looked at him with a dangerously calm face._

_"So you and my girlfriend were not just in there making out?" Vince asked._

_"Well …," TJ said, not really being able to contradict it. __Spinelli__ had nothing to say and instead looked at Gretchen, who was still looking rather fascinated by the scene unfolding before her._

_"You told me there was nothing going on between you two," Vince reminded him, a calm air still in his voice and on his face._

_"There wasn't when I told you that!" TJ protested._

_"That was yesterday afternoon!" Vince reminded him, his voice now slightly __raising__, "You're telling me that between yesterday afternoon and today that your feelings suddenly changed? Nice try TJ."_

_With those words, Vince walked away and Gretchen turned to __Spinelli__ and TJ._

_"What were you two thinking?" she demanded to know. TJ sighed and began to walk off in the opposite direction of Vince and leave __Spinelli__ to answer the question._

_00000000_

Vince watched as his friend hurriedly got ready for his dinner. Apparently, he was still very upset about the whole Mikey and his dad thing. Vince was trying to engage him in conversation to tell him that it was all going to be okay, but Jeff did not want to talk about it, or so it seemed.

"Why did he have to come along and ruin my life?" Jeff yelled.

"Mikey?" Vince ventured a guess.

"No, my dad," Jeff sighed, looking at his friend as if he was an idiot, "If he never would have come to this stupid place, he never would have had me and he could be free to do whatever he wanted. And I wouldn't have this pitiful existence."

"Maybe you should calm down Jeff," Vince suggested brightly.

"But if he would just leave, everything would be better," Jeff decided, not really talking to Vince.

"Your dad?" Vince ventured a guess again.

"No, Mikey," Jeff was suddenly frustrated with his friend, who was becoming just as frustrated with him, "Don't you understand?"

"Don't I understand?" Vince finally exploded, "I understand that you are so worried about the fact that your dad doesn't love you anymore that all you do is mope around. You complain about how you have no real relationship with your father. But have you ever tried to fix your relationship with your father instead of complaining about it? No you haven't. Maybe before you try and complain to me next time you should try and talk to your dad."

Jeff was thinking about how he could try and fix his relationship with his dad when Vince walked out of the room.

99999

Michael followed Sean into his house, noticing how nice the neighbor looked. Whenever he had lived in this town, he had definitely not had this nice of a home. He wondered if Sean actually spent enough time in it for it to be worthwhile to have it.

"Hey honey," Sean's wife greeted him with a kiss on the cheek as they walked into the kitchen. She was just putting the finishing touches on supper and Mikey knew that the roast and vegetables would be delicious just from their smell. When Sean's wife spotted Mikey, he could have sworn her smile slipped a little bit, but she smiled at him anyways, "Hello Michael."

"Where is Jeff?" Sean asked, looking around for his son, "He should know that supper is almost ready."

"I called up to him a few moments ago," his wife dismissed, "He said that he would be right down. I would give him a couple more minutes. Sometimes it takes him a while to get ready."

"I'll go call him anyways," Sean decided, going to the stairs and calling for his son. For a moment nobody answered, but finally Michael could hear the faint voice of somebody calling down the stairs.

"I will be right down father," Jeff yelled, through what appeared to be clenched teeth. Sean turned around and shrugged at Michael and then led him to the dining room. The three had just begun to fix their plates when Jeff slowly walked in. Michael gave him a smile, ready to greet him when he noticed a particularly angry look on the boy's face.

"Don't you three just make the perfect family?" the boy said, somewhat in a craze. Sean looked up from his food for two seconds and Michael wondered if the look in his eyes was always that weird.

"Son, why don't you sit down and eat?" Sean asked, but it seemed to be more of a command than a question. Jeff, however, did not obey, but instead brought the hand out from behind his back to reveal a gun.

"I am not your son," Jeff laughed, he then pointed the gun at Michael, "He is your son."

Michael couldn't react fast enough. His last thought was that guns were sure a heck of a lot louder up close than they are in the movies.

999999

_Gus and __Mikey__ were at a party. They were at a party again. Sure, __Mikey__ had fun at some of the parties. The parties were he did not have to engage in conversation with anybody at least. But, despite his absolute animosity towards these parties, he was still here. __Probably because he had nothing better to do.__ The only friend he had was here, drinking more than __Mikey__ had ever consumed in his life. __Mikey__ already had a beer in his hand, but wasn't drinking much of it. If he was honest with himself he didn't much like the taste of alcohol._

_"Hey __Mikey__," a friend greeted a him, causing __Mikey__ to groan inwardly, while he would always have his affection for s and the friendship, he did not see the use in engaging a of the rest of them in conversation._

_"Hello," he greeted normally, through clenched teeth. As soon as the guy left, __Mikey__ took a big swig of his drink. __Might as well be numb to everything that was going on around him if that was the way things were going to play out in his life.__ He continued to take drink after drink as he looked around for his only friend in the place._

_00000_

_"You really need to help your friend," the man slurred at him. Gus looked over at __Mikey__, who was sitting on a couch, not talking to anybody and just drinking away. While he normally approved of the drinking thing, he felt like this was an act of a desperate man to be at a party with tons of people and not want to talk to any of them. He began to make his way over to the couch to talk to __Mikey__, stumbling along the way._

_"What do you want?" __Mikey__ demanded of him, a mean tone in his voice._

_"I just wanted to see if you were okay and maybe wanted to do something a little fun because you look to be very bored," Gus was __unphased__ by his friend's mean tone. __Mikey__ considered it for a moment before nodding his head._

_"Okay, let's do it!" __Mikey__ said excitedly, trying to stand up from the couch and then falling again. Gus laughed and helped him up and led him into the next room of the party._

_"Drugs?__ This is your idea of something that is a little fun?" __Mikey__ asked his friend in a stage whisper as he saw the line of drugs that were sitting on the table._

_"If you don't want to you don't have to," Gus shrugged, "but, you looked sad and I thought you might need a little something."_

_Mikey__ contemplated this for a moment. On the one hand, he really did not see the point of using drugs, but on the other hand, he didn't see the point of drinking alcohol but he always did that too. Besides, Gus had used drugs plenty of times and it had never gotten him in trouble. He decided to reach for some._

_"Way to go __Mikey__!" Gus encouraged his friend._

_99999_

_Mikey__ felt woozy and if he was about to pass out. He could not remember the events of the last hour ... but he was pretty sure there was drugs and alcohol involved. __Mikey__ tried to concentrate on sitting down, but suddenly everything went blank._


	21. Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

January 11th, Senior Year

Vince was just finishing up a project for school when his cell phone began to ring. He reached for it while still reading the instructions at the very end of the project, mouthing the words aloud to himself as he picked up the phone and answered, without even bothering to look at the caller id, "Hello?"

"Vince LaSalle?" he heard on the other line, a voice that seemed like it had spent much time crying was coming over the phone. Vince quickly snapped to attention and looked down at his caller id to see that it was Jeff's phone that was calling him.

"Jeff is that you?" Vince asked, a wave of confusion coming over him because this person was definitely not Jeff, in fact, he was pretty sure that this was a woman. But, he had no idea why a woman would be calling him on Jeff's phone.

"This is Jeff's mother," the lady quickly said. Now that the mystery of that was explained, he was still not sure what she was calling him, "Something happened."

Vince's heart seemed to stop for a moment as he slowly replied, "What happened?"

"I do not know," Vince could hear the heartache in her voice, "we were sitting down to dinner and Jeff comes down with his father's gun and next thing I know, Mikey is lying on he ground, a bullet in him. Jeff said something about it being Mikey's fault."

"Where is Jeff now?" Vince questioned seriously as he began to put on his shoes.

"At the jail, Mikey is in the hospital. They are pretty sure he is not going to make it," Jeff's mom continued to sob, "He just shot him and ran off. My baby boy."

"I'm so sorry," Vince said sincerely as he began to wonder why Jeff's mom would call him in the first place, but then she answered his question.

"Since you were the last one to see Jeff before all of this started to happen, the police want to have a talk with you," she said, choking back sobs, "They think … they think that Jeff may have been suffering from some abnormal behaviors and that we were just too busy to notice what was going on in our son's life."

Vince did not want to tell the woman that this was pretty much exactly what happened. Not that he was entirely blameless himself considering the numerous times he had heard Jeff refer to Mikey and his father's relationship in a very bad way and just ignored it as jealousy. Or decided that even if it was serious, there was nothing he could do about it.

"They said they were going over to your house," his mom continued to speak, "I just wanted you to know … wanted you to know before they showed up. Poor Seth. He does not know what to think. His own son killing his most important client."

Vince did not want to even begin to mention that part of the reason this had happened might have been from that very statement. Putting his clients above his own son, Vince began to wonder if Seth had seen that yet.

0000000

_January 11__th__, Senior Year_

_Gus stumbled over to where his best friend Mikey was said to be passed out. He had not seen him in about an hour and when asking where he was, some kid told him that he had passed out a while ago near the sofa. Knowing that this was not like Mikey, he always liked to at least find the sofa, he decided _

_to go and check on him. Maybe giving him the drugs was not such a good idea. He had probably passed out from use of those._

"_Mikey?" he laughed as he saw his friend lying in a heap on the ground. He poked him in the back to wake him up, and when that did not do the trick he turned him around. He noticed that there did not seem to be any movement in Mikey at all. In fact, it seemed that he was fairly close to not breathing all together. Frightened, Gus held his ear to Mikey's chest and realized that he could not hear the heart beating, or the sound of Mikey's usually loud breathing. He quickly got up and tried to make his way over to the phone._

_His drug usage had apparently not worn off either, however, because as he grabbed the phone, it seemed like someone had grabbed it away from him. Then he noticed that someone had taken it from him._

"_What the hell are you doing?" he asked the person who had grabbed the phone from him._

"_You can't call the cops," the guy slurred. Gus tried to focus in on the guy, but couldn't tell who he was._

"_My best friend could be dying over there," Gus yelled at the boy. The boy looked at him as if he were stupid._

"_He ain't going to die," he informed him, "Just give him until tomorrow and he will be fine. If you call the ambulance and the cops come, then you will ruin the party and people will get shipped to jail."_

_Gus cursed under his breath before walking away from the boy. He knew that the boy was right, but felt it was still his duty and then remember his cell phone. As he dialed the number and began to talk to the ambulance, he knew that it would be no use for his friend. He was already dead. And Gus knew that he had played a major part in this. Why had he encouraged him to use drugs? This was sobering Gus up very quickly._

_When the police and the ambulance came a few minutes later, shipping away drug dealers to jail and busting up the party, Gus knew that they must knew that he had done it. And right now he did not care. All he cared about was the way that he had betrayed the only real friend he had in the world. He buried his head in his hands as the ambulance workers shook their heads as they examined Mikey. _

_0000000_

January 12th, Senior Year

TJ quickly took a breath as he slowed down for basketball practice. They had been practicing for the last two hours and he hadn't stopped yet. The coach said that they would be done in a couple of hours, so he looked over to where Gretchen, who was holding cheerleading practice, looked worried. In fact, TJ could not help but notice that she had looked worried all day. He wondered if her and Vince were in some kind of fight. He figured that in about five minutes they would be taking a short break anyways so he would talk to her then.

However, before this happened, a phone started ringing the gymnasium. The coach looked all around at the players before TJ realized it was his. He ran over to his bag to turn it off and realized the coach was glaring at him. He looked down at his caller id and saw his mom's number on it.

"It's my mom," he explained to the Coach. The Coach just shook his head and TJ hurried to answer his phone.

"Mom, I'm in the middle of basketball practice," he said, annoyed.

"Honey, I was just watching the news and I don't know if you have heard yet, but something happened," TJ's mom said with her voice cracking. As she continued to talk, TJ could feel Gretchen coming closer to 

him, wondering why he began to look so worried. As soon as she was done, TJ hung up the phone and turned to his friend.

"Mikey's dead," he flatly stated. The look that crossed Gretchen's face of sadness must have mirrored one that TJ was wearing on his own face. 

99999

Spinelli was just finishing up the work on a car when Gus came into the shop. She gave him a smile and motioned for him to follow her. He did so obediently and followed her into the break room.

"Hey Gus," she greeted as she grabbed each of them a coke and handed him one.

"Hey," Gus smiled back, "So, how are things going here?"

"Not as exciting as they are at the school from what I've been hearing," Spinelli gave him a smile. He laughed at that, not either confirming or denying it. Not wanting to press the issue any further, Spinelli turned on the television to the news channel. The first thing that popped up on the screen was a picture of Mikey.

"Last night at a dinner at his agent's home, this young and rising star was shot by his agent's son," the reporter was saying. Spinelli quickly looked over at Gus, who looked as shocked as she did, so she began to turn it up, "He was immediately rushed to the hospital, but the authorities said that there was nothing they could do. They promised to not release his death until this morning to give the family their own personal time to mourn. The shooter has been taken into custody and his being interrogated."

"I don't believe it," Spinelli sighed. Gus put his arm around her in a comforting way. They could not believe that after all of these years, their old friend, Mikey was dead.

00000

_January 12__th__, Senior Year_

_TJ looked at Vince, who had not thrown the ball to him the entire time they had been practicing. In fact, when they had been on opposite teams, Vince had done so much as to push him down and do very many illegal fouls. The Coach was trying to call Vince for it, but nothing seemed to be working. Suddenly, Vince just stormed out of the gym after the Coach's latest yelling at him. TJ, followed by Spinelli, who was practicing for cheerleading, followed soon after them._

"_Vince, can we please just talk?" TJ pleaded as he followed Vince down the hallways of the school, "We never meant to hurt you."_

"_Can I ask how you are doing anything but hurting me when you are kissing my girlfriend behind my back?" Vince asked him calmly finally facing him._

"_Please don't go," Spinelli spoke her first words to Vince since he had found them. She said them in a pleading tone, "We should have told you sooner about our feelings for each other."_

"_At least she is being honest," Vince snarled at TJ. TJ was about to reply when his phone rang. He gave Vince a please wait look as he answered his phone once he realized it was his mother._

"_What mom?" he asked in an irritated fashion._

"_I just got a call from Mrs. Blumberg," his mom said. She sounded like she had been crying. As she told him the rest, he knew why she had been crying. He hung up his phone and looked back and forth between his two friends._

"_Mikey's dead," he quietly stated. Vince and Spinelli did not know how to respond, but the looks of sorrow on their faces said it all._

_000000_

_Gretchen was sitting in her home doing her homework when she realized how long it had been since she heard from either Gus or Mikey. She usually got at least one drunk dial from them in the course of a weekend. She suspected that Mikey was not having as much fun with the alcohol that Gus always seemed to have, so he always made the suggestion of calling her in order to give himself something to do. That was her guess anyways. She did not really see why else he would want to call her anyways._

_Instead of worrying about that, though, Gretchen decided to turn on the local news station and get in a little afternoon news before finishing her homework. When she turned on the TV the first story caught her eye._

"_A local high school student was found dead last night at a party," the anchor was saying, "The high schooler, who had no previous drug records and whom the police are pretty sure was the first drug use, combined a lethal amount of drugs with a lethal amount of alcohol. The breaking up of the party caused several well-known drug dealers to be caught and imprisoned. The names of these people have yet to be released."_

_Gretchen stared at the television, knowing that her theory couldn't be right. No way was Mikey the high school student. There was no way. However, a few moments later when her house phone rang and she picked it up and Mrs. Blumberg was on the other end, she already knew what she was going to say. _


	22. Epilogue

Epilogue

Mikey Blumberg's Funeral

The five of us sat together at the funeral. The entire school had been let out for the occasion. I could not remember the last time we had all sat in this close of proximity to each other and actually felt like friends. Things felt so different now than they had right before we heard the news. Like so many things of the world that had seemed important and life-changing were now petty. 

It had not always been with us as friends though, the day before when we had all been at the funeral house at the same time, things had gotten ugly. Vince, Gretchen, Gus, and I were all blaming each other for what we saw as Jeff's undoing. Of course, we were all wrong in our own right. It wasn't until after Mrs. Blumberg had come by and told us all that we were the best friends that Mikey had ever had that we all got really quiet. And then Spinelli, who had never been the voice of reason before spoke up and told us that maybe it wasn't about who's fault it was or wasn't, but it was about how were going to remember his death. It kind of shifted our perspectives a little and we calmed down.

The preacher was talking about what a great man Mikey Blumberg was while all I could do was look around at all the people at the funeral. Many of his fans had tried to get in, and were waiting outside for him. I wondered how many people in this room really knew the real Mikey Blumberg. Had I even know the real Mikey Blumberg when he had died?

We had all decided that we would go and visit his grave together after the funeral and after many of the fans left. When it could only be the five of us. So we could say good-bye to one of our best friends. The only thing that kept crossing through my mind was Mrs. Blumberg saying that we had always been the best friends Mikey had. Always. Even with all those years after our friendships crumbled, he still considered our days at Third Street School the best. And I knew what he was talking about. I really believed they were some of the better days I had to.

"It is on this day that we mourn the loss of a dearly loved one," the Preacher continued, "A boy who was growing into a man. A boy who's life was cut short. A boy who was loved by many and had a heart of gold. A boy that the world knew as Michael, but that the good people of this town will always remember as Mikey."

Then, we bowed our heads in prayer, each of us thanking God for the small amount of time we had with Mikey as our friend. And my part of the prayer added that I hoped that I cherished my other friends more closely since this all had happened.

00000

_Mikey Blumberg's Funeral_

_The five of us sat together at the funeral. The entire school had been let out for the occasion. I could not remember the last time we had all sat in this close of proximity to each other and actually felt like friends. Things felt so different now than they had right before we heard the news. Like so many things of the world that had seemed important and life-changing were now petty. _

_It had not always been with us as friends though, the day before when we had all been at the funeral house at the same time, things had gotten ugly. Vince, Gretchen, Gus, Spinelli and I were all blaming each other for what we saw as Mikey's undoing. Of course, we were all wrong in our own right. It wasn't until after Mrs. Blumberg had come by and told us all that we were the best friends that Mikey had ever had that we all got really quiet. And then Gus, who had never been the voice of reason before spoke up _

_and told us that maybe it wasn't about who's fault it was or wasn't, but it was about how were going to remember his death. It kind of shifted our perspectives a little and we calmed down._

_The preacher was talking about what a great man Mikey Blumberg was while all I could do was look around at all the people at the funeral. Many of the students had come from school just to see the occasion, while others just saw this as a day off. I wondered how many people in this room really knew the real Mikey Blumberg. Had I even know the real Mikey Blumberg when he had died?_

_We had all decided that we would go and visit his grave together after the funeral and after many of the other students left. When it could only be the five of us. So we could say good-bye to one of our best friends. The only thing that kept crossing through my mind was Mrs. Blumberg saying that we had always been the best friends Mikey had. Always. Even with all those years after our friendships crumbled, he still considered our days at Third Street School the best. And I knew what he was talking about. I really believed they were some of the better days I had to._

"_It is on this day that we mourn the loss of a dearly loved one," the Preacher continued, "A boy who was growing into a man. A boy who's life was cut short. A boy who was loved by many and had a heart of gold. A boy who will be remembered by this town in the way that he died, but to his many friends and family, he will remain Mikey."_

_Then, we bowed our heads in prayer, each of us thanking God for the small amount of time we had with Mikey as our friend. And my part of the prayer added that I hoped that I cherished my other friends more closely since this all had happened._

_0000_

The graveyard was quiet. We decided to come back at night. No one else was around. And despite my wanting to keep my friends close to me, we were still standing distant from each other, as if the barriers could never be broken down. Gretchen and Vince were holding hands to the right of me. I was not sure if I could ever really accept their relationship like I should. When I saw Vince I saw a best friend I had lost, with a scar to mark the occasion that things had shifted. To the left of me stood Gus and Spinelli, standing apart from me, but also not standing very close to each other. And I was left in the middle, alone. I would never have thought that I would be the one to end up without someone to comfort me here.

However, I had never really imagined myself saying good-bye to the boy who despite many flaws loved everything with all he was. 

"I am so sorry," Vince was the first one to speak up, "I should have realized something was wrong with Jeff, Mikey."

"I should have too," Gretchen shook her head, "From the way Vince talked about everything, if I would have been any kind of good person, I would have let somebody know."

"I had that project with him," Gus whispered, "I knew something was wrong with him from the hatred that filled his voice, I just always thought that it would go away."

"He talked to me about it," I finally got the courage to say, not wanting to admit my own part in this, "And all I could think about was my own problems with my friends."

"I used to tease him about his dad liking Mikey better than liking him," Spinelli was the last one to speak up. We all turned to her, surprise on our faces. We had never really thought that she would have been part of the problem. We did not say anything, however, because she looked as if she was about to cry. Gus put his arm around her to comfort her.

I looked around at the six of us, the five of us still standing here alive, and the one buried in the ground. There was the geek, the cheerleader, the jock, the rebel, and the class clown. And buried was the sweet one. He had always remained the sweet one to me, even when the rest of us had shifted and changed roles into many different things and different people.

And I knew that moments can change everything, but I could not help but wander if any moment could have changed this. What happens if some things were just supposed to happen? No matter what else changed. Maybe some things were just fate. A fate that we could not fight. And one of these was Mikey's death.

_000000_

_The graveyard was quiet. We decided to come back at night. No one else was around. And despite my wanting to keep my friends close to me, we were still standing distant from each other, as if the barriers could never be broken down. Spinelli and I were holding hands to the right of Vince, he wouldn't look at either of us. I was not sure if Vince could ever really accept the relationship like I wanted. I knew that it would be okay if he didn't, because if I would have been him, I wouldn't have accepted it either. When I saw Vince I saw a best friend I had lost, with a look of sadness on his face to show how things had changed in the last couple of weeks. To the left of Vince stood Gus and Gretchen, standing apart from him, but also not standing very close to each other. And Vince was left in the middle, alone. Vince would not allow us to help comfort him and I couldn't imagine Vince not being comforted at all._

_However, I had never really imagined myself saying good-bye to the boy who despite many flaws loved everything with all he was. _

"_I am so sorry," Gretchen was the first one to speak up, "I should have realized something was wrong with you, Mikey."_

"_I should have too," Spinelli shook her head, "From the way you looked when we got you dismissed from the newspaper."_

"_I had that done to him," I could hear myself whispering, "I knew something was wrong with him from the hatred that filled his voice when he found out it was me, I just always thought that it would go away."_

"_He talked to me about it, after the talent show and we ruined it for him," Vince finally got the courage to say, not wanting to admit his own part in this, "And all I could think about was my own problems with my friends."_

"_I was the one who gave him the drugs that he overdosed on," Gus was the last one to speak up. We all turned to him, surprise on our faces. We had not thought that he would confess to his part in it, that he would deny it as long as possible. He didn't make eye contact with any of us, but Gretchen put a hand on his shoulder in a comforting manner._

_I looked around at the six of us, the five of us still standing here alive, and the one buried in the ground. There was the cheerleader, the class clown, the jock, the geek, and the rebel. And buried was the sweet one. He had always remained the sweet one to me, even when the rest of us had shifted and changed roles into many different things and different people._

_And I knew that moments can change everything, but I could not help but wander if any moment could have changed this. What happens if some things were just supposed to happen? No matter what else changed. Maybe some things were just fate. A fate that we could not fight. And one of these was Mikey's death._


End file.
